


Revenge

by oliviastyles28



Series: Trust is the strongest weapon [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Assassination, Crimes & Criminals, Dark, Dark Harry Styles, Dark Louis Tomlinson, Don't Like Don't Read, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Gunshot Wounds, Het and Slash, Kidnapping, M/M, Murder, Murderers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please Don't Kill Me, Strangers to Lovers, Suicidal Thoughts, Triggers, Twisted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22119190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliviastyles28/pseuds/oliviastyles28
Summary: Louis Tomlinson makes a living killing those who do not, for one reason or another, deserve life. Who he kills is not up to him to choose. His power-hungry boss, Simon Cowell, is the one who chooses whose days are numbered. One day, Louis's boss sets his eyes on another victim: Harry Styles. Only this time, Mr. Styles is a different sort of a victim... one that is not innocent. One that Louis has sworn to kill - not for his boss, but for his own revenge.But what will happen when the monster you've sworn to kill becomes the one you cannot live without?
Relationships: Danielle Campbell/Louis Tomlinson, Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Trust is the strongest weapon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593136
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rearviewdreamer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rearviewdreamer/gifts).

> I have decided to make this story into a series... if you all would be interested in that, leave a comment below to let me know!

Louis Tomlinson groaned and flopped back into his boss’s chair. His boss, Mr. Cowell, had called him into his office to discuss who Louis’s new _victim_ would be. It was nothing new. He had been doing this ever since he had been around fourteen. He’s been bound to this cold-hearted man ever since…

He had already lost his mother. He didn’t afford losing the rest of his family as well.

“So, who’s on the list today?” Louis asked with a false business-like tone. Mr. Cowell narrowed his eyes at the boy. After knowing each other for about seven years now, they each gained one thing. Mr. Cowell could tell whether Louis was being sarcastic or not – even if he didn’t use a sarcastic tone – but Louis had gained something far more valuable. He wasn’t afraid of Mr. Cowell.

That didn’t make him quit his job, because he knew that no matter where he went, Mr. Cowell would find him and take his family away from him. He was entirely capable of that, which brought Louis to the question he had always asked himself. “_If he can kill, then why doesn’t he just do everything himself? Why does he need me?” _

“On my list today… let me take a look.” Mr. Cowell pulled out the red notebook in which he always recorded his victims’ names and flipped through it. “Ah, here we go. Miss Camille Rowe.”

Louis snorted. “What did this one do to you? Cut you off on your way to work?”

Mr. Cowell obviously wasn’t in the mood to deal with Louis’s smart-ass tongue, for he crossed the room in three easy strides and latched his fingers around Louis’s throat. Louis gasped. Never had Mr. Cowell gotten physically violent with him before.

“For seven years I have been taking this kind of crap from you, Tomlinson, and for seven years I have wanted so _badly _to just kill you. Not that it is any of your business, but she slipped a deadly drug into my daughter’s drink last night when we went out for a family dinner. Now, I expect the job done with no more questions asked.” Cowell said this calmly, but Louis would have preferred him to shout at him… it made things a lot funnier for him.

Louis shoved Mr. Cowell’s hand away from his throat roughly.

“Fine. I’ll do it,” muttered Louis through gritted teeth. Mr. Cowell chuckled, and patted Louis hard on the back.

“That’s what I thought,” he said. “Miss Rowe doesn’t live too far from here. Lucky you.” Mr. Cowell handed him a packet of all the information he’d need on Camille Rowe and sent him out of his office.

For Louis, this was only a part-time job, if you could call it that, so he didn’t have his own office yet. Instead, he looked over the information at home with his stepdad. Louis bit his lip as he thought of the look on his stepdad’s face when he came home after completing a job that had been given to him. He would always give him a sad, disappointed look, which he would counter with a look of helplessness. He didn’t want to show Mr. Cowell how helpless he felt… That man would step all over Louis, and that was the last thing he wanted from his boss.

Louis sighed heavily, slipped the file into his jacket, and stepped into his car.

\--

Harry Styles sat and stared at the packet his boss, Miss Swift, had given him. Miss Swift hadn’t even said a word when she had handed it to him, just motioning for him to open it. Harry slowly opened the packet and pulled out a picture of a girl of about 27 years of age. She had long, dark hair, and ice blue eyes. She was fairly pretty, Harry thought.

“This,” Miss Swift began, “is Eleanor Calder. You do not need to know why she has to die, but I will expect you to kill her, nonetheless. Understood?”

Harry frowned. He usually gave his boss a hard time until Miss Swift finally snapped at him, but this time, he was just too tired to even pretend to argue with her.

“Fine. Whatever,” he sighed. Miss Swift nodded, then motioned for him to leave her office. He and his boss hated the living hell out of each other! Harry hated her for all she had put on his family, and all she had made him do was harshly against his principles. Miss Swift hated Harry because of all the stress he put her under when he would do simple things like argue about who the next victim should be, and “forget” to tell her how everything had gone. Harry often used that to his advantage.

Harry looked once more at the picture of Eleanor Calder, wondering what such a sweet, innocent-looking girl had done to deserve to be murdered. He thought about what Gemma might say when she saw this girl’s picture… She would probably be outraged but wouldn’t say anything. Gemma understood that Harry was only trying to protect her from the same thing that had happened to their parents, but sometimes she would give him a disappointed look when he returned home after finishing a job. This broke Harry’s heart every single time he saw the look. He really didn’t want to have to kill people, just to save his sister, but he did anyways. He didn’t want to lose his sister, too.

Harry quickly shoved the envelope out of sight and went outside the building to call a cab home.

\--

Louis slammed the door of his car and walked up to the front door of the apartment he shared with his stepdad and little siblings. The soothing smell of dinner and the sound of the television greeted him. He smiled as he walked into the kitchen and hugged Doris, his youngest sister. Doris blindingly smiled back at her big brother; she looked up to him like no other. Dan, his stepdad, was smiling too, almost as if Louis had never murdered anyone. That’s what Louis loved about Dan. He never loved him any less, no matter what he did. It was like he was his own son; like they were the same blood.

“Oh, Louis, El is here,” said Dan. “She’s waiting for you up in your room.”

Louis grinned and thanked him, before saying hi to his only brother, Ernest, who had just walked into the room, giggling and holding a toy sword in his hands.

“I’mma get you!” he squealed, starting to chase after Louis who immediately got into a role and started playing with him, running away from him. After playing a while, Ernest’s interests focused somewhere else than play wrestling with his big brother, and Louis finally made his way upstairs to his girlfriend, meeting the ice blue eyes of his friend, Eleanor.

Girlfriend. Louis made a wry face. Eleanor was his girlfriend.

“So, what’s up?” Louis asked. He suddenly realized that Eleanor looked a little scared.

“Can I stay at your house tonight?” she asked, eyes pleading. “I feel like I’m constantly being followed… and watched and… oh, Louis, can I just stay here? Please?”

Eleanor looked so terrified that Louis couldn’t say no. Eleanor thanked him with a tight hug, then looked around wide-eyed, as if afraid something would jump out at her.

“Are you going to be okay?” Louis asked worried.

“Yes…” Eleanor nodded, cuddling into Louis’s side. “You’re gonna protect me.”

Louis led Eleanor to his bedroom, and while he was doing that, he too felt as if his every move was being monitored. He fastened the pace, pulling Eleanor with him, and quickly shut the bedroom door behind them. The feeling stopped when the door was closed, and Louis sighed in relief. Eleanor didn’t look as worried anymore either.

The clock on his phone read 9:34 PM. but to Louis it felt so much later than that, so he decided to go straight to bed while Eleanor stayed up a little later. Louis slipped into his bedclothes and crawled into bed. He was beginning to think about how he would get rid of Camille Rowe, when he fell into a light doze, for some reason his dreams restless and uneasy.

He jumped up an hour later, waking up to an ear-shattering scream. He gasped and couldn’t see anything in the dark, feverishly fumbling for the light switch right next to his bed when a strong, leather-glove-clad hand caught his and a face appeared barely three inches from his. He would have screamed, but before he could, another gloved hand was pressed against his mouth, shutting him up and holding his head against the headboard.

Terrified and motionless, Louis stared straight into the stranger’s mysterious, piercing, seafoam green eyes that had a hint of danger written all over them, outlined with black eyeliner. His face was framed with a cascade of the most beautiful, dark curls that would have made him look soft hadn’t he been holding him this way with his brows furrowed and his jawline so sharp it would leave a cut on his skin if he ever came in contact with it.

“Goodbye, ma chérie,” the stranger whispered into the night, pressing a kiss on the back of his hand that was still holding Louis’s mouth and while doing that, their noses bumped together. Louis gasped for air, only now realizing that he had been holding his breath, as soon as the stranger let him go and hurried out of the room in a blink of an eye.

Louis mentally slapped himself back into reality and quickly switched the lights on. He saw that Eleanor’s throat had been slit clean across, blood covering the bedsheets and staining her nightgown. Her eyes were wide yet unseeing and her skin was paler than moonlight. Tears forced their way into Louis’s eyes as he realized that Eleanor was dead. Anger rising in his veins, he run into the hallway and reached for his gun, looking both ways and then aiming at the man now running down the stairs to get to the front door. The stranger made the mistake of looking back which made him stumble, green eyes widening in fear. Louis fired a shot right when another figure stepped into the line of fire.

“ERNIE!” he screamed in panic, dropping the gun and racing towards the little boy, standing petrified at the bottom of the stairs. The stranger looked between Louis and boy, and a split second before Louis could get to Ernest, he grabbed the little boy and sprinted out the door. Barefoot, Louis chased after them in the cold, hard asphalt, but before he could reach them, the man had disappeared with Ernest.

There had to be a way to bring Ernie back home safe. There had to! And to bring justice for Eleanor.

_“Revenge_,” was all Louis could think. “ _Revenge…”_


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Styles watched through the windows of a building he had just seen Miss Eleanor Calder walk into from a tree nearby. She was onto him, and he knew it... He needed to be more careful. Now was not a good time to get caught. The girl had looked panicked, as if she could feel his eyes already mapping where he would strike first.

The fear in her eyes was almost too much for Harry. What had this poor girl done to deserve this?  
He watched attentively as she appeared upstairs and sat on a bed in what looked like a guy's room. This was not her home, was it? He regretted not doing his research properly. 

The door to the bedroom opened and Harry gasped as he laid his eyes upon the most gorgeous being he had ever seen. The tree was close enough to the window of the bedroom, so that he could see the man's eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue, cerulean.

The man bearing the blue eyes had thick, slightly shaggy locks of dark brown hair. He was thin, but very well built. And that ass... so round and perfect. 

Harry laughed at himself. 

'_This is exactly why Camille left me...'_ he thought. _'Because I was into guys more than I could ever be into her._' It was true. Harry's ex-girlfriend, Camille Rowe, had left him because he had told her that he had these sexual thoughts about other guys. It didn't hurt Harry too much; he should have broken up with her a long time ago. 

_Blue Eyes_ had been talking to Miss Calder for a while, and Harry watched as he led her into another room, moving along the branches in order to see better. He guessed they would be sleeping in this room tonight. It was apparent that she was staying over when she went into the bathroom attached to this bedroom where they now were, and came back dressed into her nightgown. 

_Blue Eyes_ had soon fallen asleep, but Harry decided to keep his eyes on him. Before _Blue Eyes_ had closed his eyes, Harry could have sworn he had felt the man staring straight at him. Danger. It wasn't Miss Swift's commands that made him do this. Not her commands _alone_, at least. It was the danger. He was playing with fire and he could get caught. It was the adrenaline. 

Still feeling his heart flutter as he tried to get the imprint of the cerulean eyes out of his mind, Harry climbed gracefully to yet another tree branch, where he could watch Eleanor without being seen, now that _Blue Eyes_ had fallen asleep. She was pacing around the room nervously, and Harry felt a giant pang of guilt gnaw at his stomach. 

These would be her last breaths. These would be her last minutes alive, and it was all his fault. 

It was almost a full hour later when Miss Calder finally relaxed enough to sleep. Harry was beginning to wonder if there was a way he could just turn and flee the country with his sister, but he knew that Miss Swift would find him eventually... and _then _he would be in deep shit. 

He reached for the window and quietly made his way inside. He was ashamed to admit it, being the cold-blooded murderer he was, as he got distracted by the beauty of _Blue Eyes. _He couldn't even see him properly now, with the lights turned off, and yet he had never seen anything so beautiful. He stayed a moment hovering over _Blue Eyes's _frame, before turning his eyes to Miss Calder. _"I can't do this... I need to leave," _he thought to himself, starting to back away and make his way back outside when a piercing shriek erupted from the other side of the small room.

Confused, Harry looked over to see a dark shadow bent over Miss Calder's now lifeless body, and when _Blue Eyes_ woke up with a start and started fumbling for the light switch, he grabbed his hand in his own and shut his mouth with his other hand. His blood froze to ice as he recognized the figure, silently making her way out the window where he had just come from a few minutes ago. Their eyes met, the dark haired woman giving him a smile. Harry was sure that with one smile, no matter how much death and malice it held inside of it, she could pierce even the coldest of hearts.

But that's just who Miss Danielle Campbell was. He couldn't believe there had been a time when he had gone out with her. 

His attention turned to _Blue Eyes_ when he started to wriggle in his hold. He held him tighter, on the spur of the moment pressing his lips on the man's, their lips only divided by his own hand, and lingered for just a second. Harry then took a final glance at Miss Calder and suddenly felt sick. Her throat had been slit clean across, blood still gushing from the thin slice. 

...And this was what he had planned to do? 

Harry felt like crying as he rushed his way out of the room. _Blue Eyes_ must have thought he killed his girlfriend. When he was downstairs, he heard the bedroom door slam open behind him, and to this day he still can't believe he did this, but he risked his life looking back, _Blue Eyes _chasing after him with a gun pointed at him. He was going to die. 

That was when a small, angel-like creature appeared out of nowhere. The sound of a single gunshot echoed in the silence of the night when _Blue Eyes_ dropped his gun and run towards the little boy; Harry assumed it was to check whether he was alright or not. 

Next thing he did, he didn't think through - there was no time for that. The only thought in his mind, _'I have to see Blue Eyes again; I have to explain this,_' he grabbed a sturdy hold of the boy and run out the door carrying the sobbing little one in his arms. This whole night had been a mistake that shouldn't have happened. What was he going to with this little boy? How would he ever get _Blue Eyes _to listen to him? What would Miss Swift do if she found out he had taken a 6-year-old boy as a hostage? 

Harry had run until he was at a safe distance and then slowed his pace to a walk, all the while holding the little boy securely in his arms. The boy was panicking and he could tell, even though the boy tried to not show it. Harry's eyes swam with tears as he thought of _Blue Eyes _and Miss Eleanor Calder. She hadn't really deserved to be murdered... He couldn't think of a single thing a girl like her would have done wrong. The worst thing was that he had ripped _Blue Eyes's _family apart; taken two people out of his life without a warning. 

Well. Danielle had been the one to kill his girlfriend. But that wouldn't matter to _Blue Eyes_, only to Miss Swift as the thing was he and Miss Campbell both worked for Miss Swift. Danielle's smug face swam into his mind, and he growled at the image. Now, she was going to try and get Harry into a shitload of trouble with Miss Swift. Not like it mattered... after all, what could she do? Fire Harry? He hoped...

His mind was then filled with the face of _Blue Eyes. _His beautiful features were darkened in by sadness and anger. He thought that Harry had been the one to kill Miss Eleanor! Granted he had taken a little boy out of his home, but he never meant to hurt him. His mission now was to keep the boy safe. Provide him with anything he would ever need until _Blue Eyes _had calmed down enough to listen to what he had to say. 

Harry reached the main streets and thought of raising his hand to hail a cab, but then he realized how suspicious it would be for him to get into a cab with a panicked little boy who seemed to be afraid of him, so he ended up walking all eight miles home. He tried not to think about how Gemma would react to this story. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Louis walked to Mr. Cowell's office for his daily "update". With every step he took, he could see the green flash of the man's eyes... the man who killed Eleanor and took Ernest. He hadn't slept a wink worrying about his little brother. 

Louis shook free from his thoughts as he reached Mr. Cowell's office. Without knocking, he opened the door and walked in. Mr. Cowell was sitting at his desk, looking like he was eagerly expecting Louis's arrival.

"Hello, Tomlinson," he said. "What is the current condition of Camille Rowe?" 

Louis sighed heavily. 

"Something came up last night," he began. "I couldn't get to her." 

Mr. Cowell stared at him for a moment. "What, did somebody get to her before you did?" he asked, looking a little concerned. Louis shook his head, wanting nothing more than to tear his entire office apart and hide in the remains. 

"My girlfriend was murdered," he whispered. It sounded so surreal coming from his mouth. He deliberately left the other part of the story untold; Simon didn't need to know everything. Mr. Cowell was silent for a few moments, and Louis thought for once he would show some sympathy, seeing he had _just_ lost his own daughter in a murderer's hands, but no. He just laughed. 

"That's all?" he barked.

Louis felt the tears behind his eyes burn angrily. Mr. Cowell laughed again, then threw another envelope at Louis. 

"Whatever. Forget about Miss Rowe. But do_ not_ forget this man," he snarled, then continued in a softer voice, "His name is Harry Styles, and he works as an assassin for a woman called Taylor Swift." 

Louis frowned but shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to argue with Mr. Cowell today, or even make a smart-ass comment. He opened the envelope to view the picture of his next victim, and dropped the envelope in shock as a pair of familiar green eyes stared back at him from the photo. 

\--

"No, Haz, don't go see Miss Swift today. Just stay home for a while and kind of lay low. And besides, what are you going to do about _him_?" Gemma asked pointedly, nodding towards the boy shyly looking at them from where he was cuddled into himself on the couch. Harry's sister tried to convince him to stay home just for the day, but Harry shook his head. 

First of all, if he didn't go see Miss Swift after she called her to her office, then Miss Swift would make sure his life was pure hell. For example, he threatened to pair Harry up with Danielle Campbell for one assignment. See? Pure hell. 

Second, Harry needed some air. He would only be out for a little while anyways. And what came to the boy, he would be more safe if Harry _just_ did what his boss was asking him without putting up too much of a fight. 

"Gems, I'll be back soon," he ended their conversation there by turning and walking towards the door. He glanced back at the boy who had turned away and was crying silent tears while Gemma made her way to him to try to calm him down, a pained expression painted over her face. He hated this, hated _everything_ about this, but he didn't have much of a choice. He couldn't just return the boy, no. What had been done, had been done, and they would just have to deal with it. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice choked and restricted. He turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. He called a cab, sat in the backseat and told the driver where he was going. The driver began driving off in the direction of the building where Miss Swift and the others worked in. He hoped he wouldn't have to see Danielle there today.

He had probably cursed himself by thinking that to himself, for when he arrived at the building, Danielle Campbell was the first person he saw. 

'_Strike one...'_ he thought. Her face lit up with pure cockiness as she watched him walk past her. At least, she hadn't said anything to Miss Swift, right? 

_'Wrong. Strike two, Styles, good job cursing yourself again.'_

"So sorry I took your kill, Styles. I guess you just weren't quick enough," she began. "But of course, I can't blame you. That boytoy was pretty cute." 

Harry growled and balled his hands into fists. She could use insults that most children used when they were in third grade and still make a person feel like shit. Was there anything she couldn't do? 

He ignored her and walked over to Miss Swift's office. Without bothering to knock, he pushed the door open. Miss Swift didn't even look up when Harry entered... but Harry didn't particularly care. All he wanted to do was get this meeting out of the way so that he could get back to his family. 

"Sit," Miss Swift ordered. Harry leaned against a wall, completely disregarding the chair Miss Swift had motioned to. Miss Swift waved her hands impatiently. 

"Danielle tells me that you were spotted last night," she said nonchalantly. Harry chuckled to himself. 

"Danielle is a fucking bitch," he said coolly, without any emotion. Miss Swift twitched, which made Harry laugh softly again. He knew Miss Swift hated when people insulted her precious little Danielle in front of her. 

"You were spotted by a boy around your age, named Louis Tomlinson, am I correct?" he asked. Harry snorted. _That was his name? Louis? _

"How should I know?" he said, rather amused. "All I know is that he had brown hair and blue eyes." 

"That's Tomlinson," Miss Swift said. "Further investigation tells me that he also works as an assassin... for a man named Simon Cowell." Harry lifted his eyebrows, a little surprised. Of course, now, that would explain the gun he had on his hip.

"He has been labelled as one of the most dangerous men in London. I suggest you get to him before he gets you." 

Harry bit his lip. He didn't want to kill this man... Louis. The two of them were caught in a misunderstanding. So, no matter what Miss Swift said, first he would just try and reason with the guy. He had something precious of his, anyway. He just hoped that _Blue Eyes,_ Louis Tomlinson, would give him a chance to speak.

\--

Louis stared at the picture for a long time, trying to register what was going on in his mind. This man... Harry Styles... is the one who killed Eleanor and took Ernest. Yet somehow, he had a feeling that Ernie was in no danger, and that the man couldn't be all bad. He had no reason to think that! But it was too hard to forget those piercing green eyes and that kiss... Saving Ernie should be his priority. That settles it. The gorgeous eyes gave it away.

He glanced once more at the pretty face in the picture, then slid it back into the envelope with a sick smile. 

"He's as good as dead," Louis said in a voice that didn't sound like his, but rather the voice of a true assassin. 

Mr. Cowell grinned widely and was about to say something else, but Louis didn't want to hear a word from him. He just turned and stalked swiftly out of the office. He had to get home and look over these papers... this could be his one chance to save Ernest, bring him back home alive, and get his revenge. He would make sure it did not go to waste. 

Louis drove home and rushed inside the house. He didn't say hello to his stepdad who was worried sick about the disappearance of his son, but just ran straight up to his room, ignoring his sisters' concerned stares that were following him. He closed and locked the door, and poured the contents of the folder out onto his bed. Louis began to read any information in the packet... anything that would get him closer to catching the murderer and getting a revenge. 

These thoughts of revenge shocked Louis. It had never been his wish to kill anybody. And now all of that had changed in just one night. He wanted the man dead. Normally, if Mr. Cowell gave him a victim that was this beautiful, he'd turn to him and tell him to shove it up his ass, but now... he was more than willing to kill this man, Harry Styles, no matter how beautiful he w-

No! _'He is NOT beautiful!_' Louis scolded himself. '_He is ruthless, heartless killer, a bastard who kidnapped Ernie, and he really does deserve to die!'_ Louis shook his head as a new emotion trickled into his mind... he tried to rid himself of whatever emotion it was and focus on how he was going to gain his revenge. He still wasn't sure what he was feeling. He just knew that it would somehow interfere with this job, and he didn't want that to happen. 

Louis stared at the picture once more. The green eyes stared back at him and it seemed as if they were pleading with him; begging for mercy? Maybe so... 

"El..." Louis whispered. "I'll do this for you." 

\--

Harry knew exactly where he would find Louis, but he had no idea what he was going to say or even how he was going to introduce himself without Louis running to murder him. He walked until he could see the apartment where Louis lived, then shuddered. 

He really didn't want to have to kill Louis, nor did he want Louis to kill him. He wished there was some other way the two of them could just talk all this over. 

Harry jumped about a foot in the air when the door to the building opened and Louis's slender figure appeared. He didn't see Harry so Harry tried as hard as he could to slip behind a grove of trees without making too much movement. If Louis truly was an assassin, he would be able to spot him in an instant! He succeeded in hiding himself without being noticed, or at least he thought so, and preceded to just watching Louis as he walked down the path, deep in thought. 

'_Maybe now I could try and introduce myself... If I just make sure he doesn't see me, but he can hear me...'_ Harry thought for a moment. He took a deep breath and was about to call out to Louis, when he heard a familiar voice. 

"Excuse me, I think I may be lost. Would you please tell me where I could get to a phone, so I could call someone to find me?" 

That voice. Sickeningly sweet and full of mock innocence. Was that who Harry thought it was? 

"Oh!" Louis exclaimed, startled. He stared at the brown haired woman for a few seconds, and Harry could tell by the look on his face that Danielle had Louis trapped. Danielle smiled a little flirtatiously and giggled. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you... I was just hoping you could help me. I'm Danielle, by the way," she grinned and Harry almost puked at the falsely honeyed tones in her voice. 

Louis shook her hand, holding it a little longer than Harry would have liked. Harry frowned, pouting. He wondered why he was getting so angry at this, and was he becoming.. jealous? Oh shit. 

"I'm, uh, I'm Louis," Louis said and Danielle laughed again. 

"That's a cute name... Louis," she said and looked around as if sensing that Harry was watching them. Harry knew that she knew he was here. Why else would she be doing this? Harry watched as Louis offered to let her use his phone and scowled when he agreed. A mixture of anger and jealousy swarmed inside his stomach and he tried his best to keep both emotions under control. Why in the fucking hell was he feeling jealous? 

"Thank you so much, Lou!" he heard Danielle saying as they walked back to Louis's house to get some privacy. Harry followed them, trying as hard as he could to not be noticed. Hadn't he been so sure that Danielle knew he was here, he would have been a little more nervous that she would see him, but it didn't cross his mind that she would do what she was about to do. 

"Oh my GOD! What is _that_?" she shrieked, pointing over to where Harry was hiding behind a tree. Louis looked around wildly before following Danielle's falsely horrified state. Harry cursed under his breath. Did Louis see him? Should he move? But if he moved, then Louis would definitely see him!

Oh shit... oh shit... oh shit...

Harry wanted to strangle Danielle when he saw the satisfied smirk on her face. Louis didn't see it; he was too busy trying to look for whatever it was that had made Danielle so panicked. If he hadn't spotted Harry already. Louis turned back to Danielle who put up her terrified face again. 

"I don't see anything," he said and Harry sighed in relief. Now, he would just stay in the same spot, just in case Louis saw him moving. Danielle began to sound tearful. 

"It's him!" she sobbed. "He's coming after me! He's going to kill me!" 

Louis turned and looked once more towards Harry's hiding place. He began to walk towards him and Harry began to panic. He looked once more at Danielle who was grinning triumphantly once again. Harry stood frozen, paralyzed, not knowing what to do or where to go. Should he make a run for it? 

No.

He had to try and talk to Louis. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Louis... Lou, hang on," Harry said, trying not to sound too desperate. Louis froze and Harry cautiously stepped out from behind the tree to face him. Louis gasped and checked his belt for his gun, but he didn't have it. 

"Listen, I need to talk to y-" Louis cut Harry off mid-sentence. 

"You... You fucker! Where is my little brother?" he shouted. "You killed one of my best friends! And now, I'm going to kill you." 

Louis lunged at Harry, but Harry had known he probably would, so he was prepared. He took a half-step out of the way and grabbed Louis's arms, pinning them behind his back. Louis cried out in anger with a slight hint of fear. 

"I _just_ want to talk to you... There has been a mistake." 

Louis struggled to get away from Harry. 

"What the fuck do you mean?" he snarled. Harry winced a little, not knowing why Louis's anger towards him hurt him so much. 

"Can we just talk? Please, Blu- er, Louis." 

Louis stopped wriggling for a moment. "You... you took him!" he choked. "Wh-why? He's just a child!" Louis sounded almost hysterical. "A-and you- y- you killed her! S-she's never done anything wrong!" 

Harry bit his lip, feeling guilty. Even though he wasn't the one to kill her, it had still been his job in the first place. Harry wondered once more what Miss Calder had done to deserve her death, but his question had already been answered by Louis. Not a single thing. 

"I didn't kill her," Harry began. "The person who killed Eleanor is standing right over _there!_" he pointed to where he had last seen Danielle, but she was gone. He looked around everywhere for her but still didn't see her anywhere. In his confusion, Louis managed to slip out of his grasp. 

"Who did, then? If I saw you standing over there with her throat slit, _who _killed her then? And WHERE IS MY LITTLE BROTHER?" Louis was still hysterical which, Harry thought, was understandable. 

"Danielle killed Eleanor, Lou, not me," he said, his eyes pleading with Louis, "and your brother is safe. I promise." 

Louis's face was blank.

"N-no... YOU killed her! I couldn't have h-had El's kill-er r-right in front of m-me-e like that..." Louis's face was growing pale. "Oh, f-fuck. I c-could've gotten m-my revenge," he whispered before closing his eyes and fainting into the snow. 

\--

When Louis opened his eyes, he found himself lying in his room on his bed with a blanket wrapped snugly around him. Maybe everything had been just a dream. That man, Harry Styles, was the one who killed Eleanor. Why had he taken Ernest? He just had to find him now. 

But then, who was the brown haired woman? Mr. Styles had claimed that she was Eleanor's murderer, but... Could that be true? He had only seen Harry in his room, and had only seen Harry take Ernest! 

_'I really do want that to be true...'_ Louis shocked himself with this thought. He wanted Mr. Styles's explanation to be the truth? Why in the world did it matter to him? 

Louis jumped as the door to his room began to open. He quickly reached under his pillow where he kept a safety gun, only to find that missing. 

"Oh shit..." Louis cursed and began looking around frantically for his gun or anything that would serve as a weapon of some sort. He found nothing. It was almost as if every lethal object had been hidden or taken from him! He was disarmed. 

The door opened and Louis realized with a shock that it hadn't been a dream, after all. Harry Styles stood in the doorway and slowly began to walk towards him, but Louis jumped up away from him.

"What the FUCK are you doing in here?" he yelled. "Where are my sisters? What have you done to my sisters?" Louis began to panic. What if Harry had killed all of his siblings as well? 

"They're fine," Harry purred in a voice that almost made Louis relax completely. Almost. "I thought we could talk now." 

"Talk about what?" Louis snapped. "How you killed Eleanor? How you MURDERED her and kidnapped my baby brother?" This made Harry angry. He roughly shoved Louis up against the wall, pinning him there with more force than Louis would have expected. 

"I did _not," _Harry began speaking very slowly and clearly but through gritted teeth, "murder Miss Eleanor Calder. Danielle Campbell, the woman you met about an hour ago, murdered her. Not me. Her. Understood?" 

Louis was so shocked that he probably wouldn't have been able to stand properly even if Harry let him go. He stared straight back into those bright green eyes and saw a mixture of hopefulness, desperation and another emotion Louis couldn't decipher. Harry blinked, breaking the eye-contact they had, and let go of Louis. 

"Look, I just really need you to believe me now. I know it's difficult, but you have to trust me. I know I took your brother but that was kind of necessary. Nothing bad has happened to him and he is perfectly safe. I figured you wouldn't kill me before you knew where your brother was, and as only I know where he is... Please. Just please, trust me," Harry said, not looking Louis straight back in the eye.

"Wh-why?" Louis asked. Harry thought a moment and then answered truthfully. 

"I don't know. Something tells me that if you don't, I might..." Harry trailed off. He shook his head. 

"Please. Just trust me. I'm begging you, Blu- uhm, I mean Louis." 

Louis thought a moment and then nodded. 

\--

"Okay then, Louis," he said, "Can we talk?" 

Louis looked him up and down for a moment before nodding again and sitting down cautiously. Harry could tell he was checking for any sort of a weapon but he didn't have any on him, so Louis didn't have to worry. He wouldn't hurt him even if he did!

Harry sat down gracefully next to Louis who moved away from him a few feet. Harry sighed disappointed but began his story. He told Louis everything; more than he thought he would tell him! He told him abut how Miss Swift forced him to become an assassin, and how everyone except for his sister was either murdered or moved away from, how he never wanted to kill Miss Eleanor Calder, or anyone else for that matter, in the first place, and even the blow-up he had with his sister that morning. By the time he was finished with his story, he was fighting back tears. 

Louis bit his bottom lip but didn't seem to be showing any signs that he had believed a word Harry said. This made Harry angry again. 

"Look, if you don't believe me, fine!" he snapped. "I just hope you know that I told you nothing but the truth!" 

Louis looked a little shocked. "Jesus Christ, calm the fuck down," he snapped back. "I never said I didn't believe you!" One look back up at those brilliant blue eyes and Harry could see a stroke of sympathy for his story. Harry looked down at the floor. 

"Now I feel like an asshole..." he muttered. Louis sighed heavily. 

"I can really relate to your story," he said. Harry listened as Louis told him his story - how Mr. Cowell threatened to kill his family if he didn't work for him; how he, too, never wanted to kill anyone; how devastated he was over the death of '_El' _as he so affectionately nicknamed her; and how he swore up and down on his soul that he would get revenge on whoever killed her. Harry listened patiently and nodded emphatically. 

"There's one more thing..." Louis said, turning his face away from Harry. Harry frowned slightly. 

"What is that?" he asked. Louis didn't answer. He slowly reached behind his bed and pulled out a brown envelope. Harry watched, unblinking, as Louis opened the envelope and pulled out a picture. 

"What's that?" he was almost afraid to ask. Louis held the picture so that Harry could see it and he felt his heart leap as he stared back into his own green eyes. 

Louis placed the picture back in the envelope and put it back behind his bed. He looked back over at Harry whose mind was racing. Would Louis go ahead and kill him anyway? Did he have another gun or something in here that Harry didn't hide? Were the whereabouts of Ernest not enough to save him from Louis's bullet? 

Louis sat back down next to Harry. 

"What are we going to do about this?" he asked. "I honestly don't want to kill you now, or even after you return Ernie, but.." Louis trailed off as he realized Harry was now searching his coat pockets for something. He pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Louis. 

"Such a coincidence," Harry said as Louis opened the envelope and pulled out a picture of himself.

\--

Louis stared at his own face in the picture, wondering what Harry would do. Now he had seen that Harry was supposed to be _his _next victim, so would that make Harry want to kill him? 

"I... I don't know what to do about this," Harry said. "I don't want to kill you... you're just- I think there's just been a misunderstanding here and we can work it out." 

Louis nodded, still finding it hard to trust Harry. 

"How are we going to work it out though? I'm supposed to go into Mr. Cowell's office tomorrow and tell him that I killed you!" Louis was beginning to panic. H fought hard to stay calm, but he couldn't hide the little pricks of panic in the back of his mind.

"Don't go," Harry said simply. "Look, I've been trying to find a way out of this job since I started. Maybe this can be it!" he said. Louis was confused, but Harry continued. "Most of my family lives in New York! We'll be safe there." 

Louis frowned. Did Harry think he would leave his family and go with him? And why was he not freaking out about the idea? He really wasn't fond of the thought of going to a whole other country with a man who was given the order to kill him, plus, he still wasn't exactly sure if Harry's story was true. He seemed trustworthy to Louis, but that could be part of some scheme to murder him. 

But, if that was the case, why wasn't Louis already dead? Harry had had plenty of chances to kill him but had never acted on them. Louis's head was beginning to throb, so he pulled away from his confusing thoughts. Harry shrugged. 

"it's okay if you don't want to go. I can completely understand why you wouldn't." Harry sounded sincere. 

"Why don't you go to New York and I go into Mr. Cowell's office and say that I've killed you? You'll have the chance to get away and I won't get bitched at it," Louis said. Harry opened his mouth as if to say something but he just looked down at the floor. Louis had felt a bang of disappointment in his stomach as he had said those words and he had no idea why. A part of him actually felt like he wanted to go with Harry...

"S-suit yourself," Harry choked. Louis looked at him, confused as to why he sounded so upset, but Harry got up before Louis could get a look at his face. Harry walked towards Louis's bedroom door, then turned around to face Louis. Louis was half expecting Harry to look as upset as he sounded, but he looked the same as he did before.

"Are you sure you're not coming with me? It could save you and your family from Mr. Cowell," he said. Louis bit his lip, strongly tempted to agree, but he felt himself shake his head. 

"Or it would lead my family into even bigger trouble when Mr. Cowell realized I had fled," he reminded in a voice that sounded nothing like his own. There was truth to what he had said, though. Harry nodded.

"I'll drop Ernest off before I leave. I- I'm sorry for everything. Good luck," he said. Louis nodded and watched Harry leave, not exactly sure what had just happened. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Fuck," Harry muttered as he walked through the door of his house. He was greeted by Gemma a few seconds later. 

"Haz, you said it wouldn't take that long!" she reminded him, tone accusing. "Where were you?" 

"I had to take care of something... I'm sorry, Gems, really. We need to take the boy back," Harry said and sat down on the couch, resting his head on the armrest. Gemma sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'll do that, just tell me the address. Now tell me what's wrong," she said. Harry frowned. 

"Why do you think there's something wrong with me?" he asked. Gemma just grinned. 

"You're my brother, H. I can always tell when something is wrong." 

Harry sighed, knowing he would have no choice but to tell his sister about everything. Unless, of course, he wanted Gemma to sit and bother him about it all night. Sometimes, his sister acted like a 6-year-old instead of an adult. 

Harry started from the beginning. He began from when he was given the job to kill Miss Eleanor Calder and ended at the conversation with Louis about moving to New York. Gemma stared, wide-eyed. 

"Harry, you fucking stupid ass!" Gemma yelled. "It was very likely that he would kill you! And you wanted to move to New York with him? What the hell, H?" Gemma sat, fuming while Harry tried to find the words to explain himself. He stayed silent, though, because honestly, he didn't think those words existed. He remembered the disappointment that filled his heart when Louis had turned down his offer to move to New York, and again, couldn't explain it. Of course, he thought Louis was rather good-looking, but it was true! He could have killed Harry. Harry raked his hands through his hair, which is what he normally did when he was stressed. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Gemma continued. " You haven't taken a liking to him, have you?" 

Harry's stomach suddenly felt as if it was falling through an icy cold abyss. 

"N-no! Of course not! That's fucking ridiculous..." Harry muttered but Gemma didn't look convinced. Harry bit his lip when Gemma stood up to get Ernest from upstairs where he had been watching cartoons in Harry's room to bring him back home, knowing that he hadn't convinced himself either. 

\--

After Harry's departure, Louis sat on the edge of his bed, trying to make sense of their entire conversation. It was very possible that Harry had been telling the truth when he said that he wasn't Eleanor's murderer, but that could have also been a trap. How foolish would he have been to fall into a trap like that? All because Harry Styles had charmed him into thinking that they were on the same side. 

Louis thought back to his piercing green eyes which had held so much hopefulness and desperation. How could anyone be so convincing without telling the truth? Louis sighed heavily. 

'_I must have trusted him a bit... or else he'd be dead by now...' _Louis reminded himself. And the fact that he had let Harry walk away with just a promise to bring his little brother back was... terrifying. Especially considering that his trust wasn't an easy thing to win over. 

Harry had said that it was that brunette girl, Danielle was it? Yes... He said it was her who killed Eleanor. Of course, Louis had only met her once, so he couldn't make much of a judgement.

Just as he felt his head would explode, he heard a sharp tap at his window. Louis jumped about three feet out of his skin. He didn't have any weapons with him, still! Should he go and try one? Who was it at his window anyway? Was it Harry again? Somehow, Louis highly doubted that he'd see those captivating jade eyes when he opened the window. 

Louis quickly scanned his room for anything he could use as a weapon.. anything at all. His eyes fell on an old skateboard and he picked it up. If the person at the window proved to be dangerous, just one strike with his board and they'd surely fall into their death. 

Louis raised his skateboard above his head, and slowly opened the window.

"Wait! Louis! Put the board down and please let us in! I'm begging you!" 

Louis recognized that voice. 

Us? There were more people out there than just the woman?

"D-Danielle?" he asked, stepping back a few feet. Danielle's head became visible once she hit the light, and she was holding a boy in her arms. She gazed up at him, pleading. 

"Ernest!"

Louis rushed to take Ernest from her arms and pull him securely into his bedroom. Ernest was visibly terrified and in shock. Louis held him close to his chest while warily gazing at Danielle. What was Danielle doing with his little brother? 

"Please, let me in..." she said. "I found him wandering on the streets." 

Louis frowned, considering for a moment what Harry had said about her, but nodded anyways. He grabbed Danielle's hand and pulled her into his room. She fell to her knees up against the wall. Louis looked at his little brother, who was clinging to Louis with all his strength, worriedly. His t-shirt was getting soaked with Ernest's tears. 

"Can you wait a moment?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer, already heading out the door. 

"Dad!" he yelled. "Dad, Ernie is home!" 

Danielle waited silently until Louis came back a little while later, shutting the door behind him. 

"Danielle, what are you doing here?" Louis asked, still uncertain whether or not he should have pulled her in. She _did_ bring Ernie back home safe, but hadn't that been supposed to be Harry's job? What had she done to Harry? 

She smiled softly but weakly. It looked like a forced smile. Then suddenly, she buried her face in her hands and let the tears out. 

"Thank God, Louis. I thought he had killed you," she gasped between sobs. Louis frowned. 

"You mean Harry?" he asked. Danielle stood on her feet and grabbed Louis's hands. She was so close that Louis could see every teardrop clinging to her eyelashes.

"He's a _murderer_, Lou. He was coming after me... trying to kill me because I saw everything," she sputtered. Louis frowned and tried to take a step back, but Danielle pulled him closer. 

"I saw him murder... that girl who was here. The one sleeping next to you." 

"Eleanor?" Louis jumped. 

"Yes, I believe that's what her name was. I saw him slit her throat and then he noticed me watching, and now he's coming after me, Lou! Oh God, help me, please," she shrieked. Louis patted her back as she cried into his shoulder. 

"Okay... okay, why don't you, uhm, why don't you stay here tonight?" he offered. Danielle nodded. 

"I would feel a lot safer..." she said. "But... can I sleep in your room.. with you? You saw what happened to Eleanor, and... I just..." she was beginning to cry again, so Louis just nodded.

"Yes okay, but just until tomorrow," he said, wondering why exactly he was agreeing to everything Danielle asked for. 

"Thank you _so _much, Louis," she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. He blushed a bit and was completely taken by surprise when he felt her lips on his cheek near the edge of his mouth. 

"Yeah, no problem," he answered. 

\--

**'Danielle's pov'**

_Perfect. This is exactly what I wanted. A way to mess with Styles's emotions before killing him. What can I say? I can't stand the guy. You wouldn't be able to stand the guy who murdered your- nevermind. I don't wish to think about that now. _

_This poor guy. Louis. He just happens to be the bait. Great... Now all I have to do is make sure Harry Styles sees us together. Why am I going to fuck with his head before I kill him? Simple. It's very entertaining. I can tell he has a very strong liking for this boy, even though they have just met._

_There is another small problem. What if Louis decides to give everything away by not playing along? I won't tell him my plans, of course, but make him love me instead. That should work just fine. _

_I just have to wait until the time is right..._

Danielle rolled over on her side to face Louis who was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Danielle smiled to herself. 

"Lou?" she called softly. "Thanks again so much for letting me stay here." And with that, Danielle leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Louis's lips. Louis coughed in surprise and Danielle tried not to burst out in laughter. _'What a fucking loser...'_

"What the-," Louis asked but was cut off by Danielle who placed another, more passionate kiss to his lips. She felt Louis tense and then relax a bit. She deepened the kiss a little more, sliding her tongue into Louis's mouth to meet his. Louis didn't object but sat in complete shock. Then, Danielle pulled away. 

"Good night, Lou," she said before turning over on her other side, a satisfying smirk on her face. 

'**end of Danielle's pov'**

\--

Harry sat up in his bed, thinking over his record of murders since he had been working for Miss Swift. He hadn't wanted to commit any of them and regretted every single one of them. He thought of one man in particular, with the first name John. He was a husband and a father of a daughter whom Harry had never seen before. He had seen his wife but not his child. She was around his age and had already moved out. 

'_Good,'_ Harry thought. '_It's one thing to murder an innocent man but a completely different thing to murder him in front of his family.'_ Harry felt disgusted with himself. He did all this just to save his sister. Killed a thousand men and women only to save the one that mattered the most to him... Gemma. 

Harry's thoughts returned to Louis for the millionth time that night. Would he really be okay here in London? As long as Danielle didn't get to him, Harry was convinced that Louis would be fine. 

'_Oh shit!'_ Harry thought. _'Danielle! She knows I was there with Louis! She knows where I'll run to! She'll tell Mr. Cowell everything! He'll find me and kill both me and my sister! I can't let that happen. I have to stay here...'_ Harry cursed Danielle out loud. 

"Goddamn her!" he shouted. "Shit... that means I have to see Lou again... I have to tell him not to tell Mr. Cowell that he killed me. We have to think of something else." Harry didn't really care that he was talking to himself. He stood up as he heard the front door open. 

"Harry! She took him!" Gemma yelled panicked. 

"Wha- Who? What?" Harry asked concerned. 

"She- this girl came out of nowhere and took Ernest!" 

"WHAT? I- I have to go," Harry mumbled, pulling his coat on and hurrying out the door. 

"Be careful!" 

"I'll see you in a bit," he said and then slammed the front door behind him. 

\--

Harry called a cab to Louis's house. once he got there, he stared at the tall building as if just seeing it for the first time. He hadn't really noticed the building's beauty until just now. 

Louis's bedroom light was off. Harry guessed that he was probably lying down but not yet asleep. Who would be after having that much information crammed into your brain in one day? He got nervous as he thought of the fact that he had to tell Louis somebody had taken Ernest and he had no idea where the little boy was. He hadn't kept Ernest safe like he had promised.

Harry began to climb up the branch of a tree in order to reach Louis's window. He noticed one of the branches was bent slightly as if someone had already been there before him. Shrugging the thought off, Harry climbed so that he could reach the window, and knocked gently. No reply. 

Harry frowned. Maybe Louis was asleep after all. He was about to knock again when suddenly the window flew open, nearly knocking Harry down. 

\--

A soft knock sounded upon Louis's window. He hadn't been sleeping, so he heard it the first time. He looked outside the window to see if he would recognize the silhouette, but it was so dark that he couldn't even see one. Danielle sat up, too. 

"Did you hear that?" her tone was frightened. Louis looked around his room, still amazed that he hadn't gone to retrieve his weapons after Harry had hid them. He slowly got up and turned to face Danielle. 

"I'm going to find my gun, just in case. You stay here and _do not_ open the window," he ordered. Danielle nodded and Louis rushed out of the room, closing his bedroom door behind him. 

\--

Danielle frowned at the window. _'Now I wonder who this could be...' _she thought sarcastically as she got up and walked over to the window. She recognized Harry Styles's shadow, and a surge of hate swam through her entire body. She threw the window open, earning a surprised gasp from Harry. 

"Well, well, Styles. What ever could you be doing here, at Mr. Tomlinson's house?" she asked, not bothering to keep the cold, sarcastic tone from her voice. Harry glared at her. 

"What the FUCK are you doing here, Danielle?" he snarled. 

"I asked you first," she shot back. It was rather childish, but Danielle did have a knack for making the simplest comeback hurt in the worst ways. 

"Shut the fuck up! You better tell me why you're here, Danielle. If you hurt one fucking hair on his head..." Harry snarled but Danielle cut him off.

"You'll what? Avenge your lover?" she mocked and watched as Harry turned a deep shade of scarlet. "I've got news for you, Styles. He's not a faggot like you. He's with me now. He doesn't believe a word you've said." 

Harry's eyes held pure hatred and loathing in them, yet a small hint of rejection. Danielle loved it. 

"Y-you're lying!" he yelled. "He doesn't believe you! You killed Eleanor Calder! Not me!" 

"If he doesn't believe me, then why am I here?" she asked simply. Harry didn't look as though he had an answer, so Danielle laughed. 

"Give up, Styles. He's with me. If you don't believe me, just watch and see for yourself," she sneered and went to close the window. 

"Oh, and by the way. Louis knows you had no intent to bring little Ernie back alive. Good thing I happened to save him," she smiled wickedly before fully closing the window. 

\--

Danielle gracefully flicked on the lights so that Harry could see inside. Louis walked back into the room holding a gun and Harry watched his gaze fly to Danielle who was huddled in a corner of the bed. 

"I-I turned on the lights and they disappeared, whoever was out there," she said, voice tearful. Harry's stomach filled with rage as he watched her stand up and wrap her arms around Louis's neck. 

"So, you're okay?" Louis asked. Danielle nodded, snaking her fingers through Louis's dark locks.

"I will be in a minute," she said and pulled Louis into a passionate kiss. Harry's eyes grew wide as he saw that Louis wasn't doing anything to push her away from him. She pulled away just long enough to strip him of his T-shirt and then crashed her lips with his once more. Harry watched her guide his hands to her waist and then to her stomach, then up her nightshirt. She broke away again just long enough to pull the shirt off, and pulled Louis back down onto his bed. She glanced quickly back up towards the window at Harry, her cruel eyes shining with malice. Harry sat with a slight frown and his mouth open in disbelief. He felt his eyes welling up but refused to let the tears fall. 

Danielle focused her attention back to Louis and began tugging at the elastic of his boxers. Just as she began to pull them down, Harry decided that he had seen enough. He slipped down from the tree, landing gently on his feet. He began his lonely walk up to the main roads where he could call another cab home. His head was filled with painful images of what they might have been doing, and though he didn't know why, he was convinced he felt his heart break a little more with each step. 

\--

Louis threw his head back as he felt Danielle slam down into his body a few more times before reaching her edge. He stared up at Danielle who was straddling his hips, and had to do a sort of a double take. At first, he was completely convinced that instead of staring up into Danielle's lust filled eyes, he was staring up into Harry's eyes that were slightly more green, more vibrant, more beautiful. The idea of Harry on top of him like that was enough to send him over the edge into an ocean of pure ecstasy.

Suddenly, he became aware of Danielle's almost over dramatic moaning and realized that it was not Harry. A small knot of disappointment formed in Louis's stomach, surprising him. Did he want it to be Harry instead of Danielle? 

Danielle lifted herself off him and got herself dressed. Louis did the same, regretting every moment of what he had just done. Why hadn't he pushed her away? 

He watched Danielle glance towards the window again, a small smirk on her face. Louis frowned as she turned back to him. 

"Good night, Lou," she said as she turned off the lights and slipped once more into Louis's bed next to him. 

"Mmhm," Louis answered shortly, his thoughts still on Harry.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry woke up in his house in the middle of the floor of the living room. He had no memory of returning home, and began to wonder what time he had gotten in. Harry lied on the floor a while longer, not wanting to move. He felt like if he moved, he would be able to feel the shattered pieces of his heart ripping and tearing at his chest. He heard a door creak open but didn't have to look up to know who it was.

Gemma knelt down beside Harry and took his chin in her hand.

"What happened, Haz?" she asked softly.

Harry groaned, not wanting to relive last night's events. Gemma changed the subject. 

"Alright then, don't you think you should at least lay down on the couch, if not in your bed?" she asked and Harry was grateful that Gems didn't press her previous question. He nodded and tried to move but his muscles felt like they were made of lead. Gemma sighed and lifter Harry into her arms. She carried him over to the couch and set him down gently. 

She pulled a blanket over her baby brother and then smoothed back his hair like their mother had once done when one of them was sick. Tears sprang into Harry's eyes but he blinked them away, not wanting to cry... especially over someone who he would never have a chance with anyways. Danielle got to him first. 

Gemma sat up on the edge of the couch. "Do you want to tell me what happened last night?" she asked. 

Harry sighed. He didn't want to but there was no reason for Gemma to not know. Starting from the time he reached Louis's apartment and ending with him running from the building onto the main streets, he told his sister everything he could remember. By the time he was done, Gemma's mouth was open in shock. 

"I don't remember how or when I got home, though," Harry added. Gemma shrugged. 

"I was probably sleeping or something, so I didn't hear you come in," she said gently. Harry lifted his hand to his forehead, tears still threatening to spill from his eyes. Gemma smoothed her brother's hair back again. 

"So, does this mean that you _do _have feelings for this boy?" she asked. Harry felt his stomach fall. He bit his lip and looked back up at Gemma. 

"I-I don't know, Gems. I don't know him all that well but he is very beautiful and quite charming, really," Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before tears finally fell freely down his cheekbones. "I can't believe I'm in love with a man who's sworn up and down to kill me." 

Gemma frowned, thinking hard. "Doesn't Danielle have to go into the office with Miss Swift today?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"Well, then, go back to Louis's house! Maybe you can get him alone to explain everything that's happened!" 

Harry thought for a moment before sitting up. "I'll be back later."

\--

Louis opened his eyes to find that Danielle was no longer next to him. In her place, there was a note. It simply told Louis that she had gone to work and that she'll be back later that evening. Louis didn't really care if she'd be back or not. He just wanted to get Harry out of his mind! He had had dreams about him the night before, and still well into the morning, he couldn't stop thinking about him. 

He had to wonder whether or not Harry was telling him the truth. Danielle's side of things did seem convincing but then there were a few unsettling things about her. Harry seemed convincing as well but he could just be trying to use his charm to get Louis's defenses down. '_Fuck! Why is this so fucking difficult?'_ He screamed in his head. Louis pounded a pillow in frustration and then lied back down on his bed, fuming. 

A soft knock on the window startled him. He looked up and Harry's face was visible in the daylight. 

"Lou, I have to talk to you!" he was saying. Louis was torn. Should he open the window or not? He looked into Harry's eyes and saw unmistakable urgency reflected in both of the green pools. Finally making up his mind, Louis opened the window and let Harry in. 

Harry looked at Louis, looking as though he was lost for words. Harry frowned slightly. 

"Louis, you- Danielle... fuck," was all Harry could get out. He was gasping for air and was starting to have an asthma attack. Louis knew what was going on and panicked. He didn't have an inhaler anywhere close to his room and he didn't know if Harry had one either. Harry dropped down on Louis's bed, struggling and fighting for air. Louis looked around frantically but couldn't find anything that would be useful. He did know that his stepdad had an inhaler, though. 

"Dan!" he yelled, "DAN!" 

He heard his tired stepdad's voice answer him from downstairs. 

"Get me your inhaler, fast!" he ordered. He looked back at Harry whose face was beginning to lose any color it may have had. Louis jumped forward next to Harry and rubbed his back gently. Then, without thinking, he pressed his mouth onto Harry's and blew air into his lungs. 

This seemed to help a bit, so Louis continued. His bedroom door opened and Dan ran in with his inhaler, Louis stepping back, feeling lightheaded, and watched as Dan slipped the white tube between Harry's lips and pressed down on the button. Harry inhaled the medicine and fell backwards on Louis's bed, panting, his original skin color returning to his face.

"Are you going to be okay, dear?" he asked. Harry nodded and muttered a 'thank you'. Dan turned to Louis. 

"Are you going to work today?" he asked. Louis shrugged. 

"I guess I have no choice-," he began but Dan cut him off. 

"Call in sick," he said. "Spend a day or two relaxing. You look worn all to hell," he said. Louis smiled softly and Dan nodded to both Louis and Harry before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. 

"Your dad is... an amazing.. person," Harry panted. Louis smiled and nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah, he is..." he said and turned to Harry. "Now, why are you here?" 

Harry coughed and sat up, staring straight into Louis's blue eyes. 

"Don't trust Danielle," he said. "She works for Miss Swift along with me. She killed Miss Eleanor Calder, and now I bet she's plotting to kill you too... I can't let her do that!" 

Louis frowned. He couldn't let her do that? Why not? Why should Harry care about this whole situation? It didn't concern him in any way or shape. 

"Why do you care?" Louis asked, voicing his thoughts. Harry thought for a moment before answering. 

"Honestly, I'm not sure. But..." Harry trailed off. Louis sat forward a bit more, urging him to continue. "I don't know. You're just the only thing I've been thinking about for ages, and the thought of you being murdered by the same woman who murdered your friend... I-I don't know," Harry's cheeks were tinted red by the time he finished. Louis bit his bottom lip before opening his mouth to speak. 

\--

"That's odd," Louis said. Harry frowned confused, hoping that Louis would elaborate. "I've just been thinking about.. ehh, nevermind, Harry. I need to ask you some questions." 

Harry sighed heavily. Great... He had just managed to look like a complete ass in front of Louis. '_You're the only thing I've been thinking about for ages...'_ Harry mocked himself in his head. Just fucking great, Styles.

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Louis roughly pull him up by his arms. Harry hardly had any time to protest when Louis grabbed a thick rope that was hanging from his dresser and tied Harry's hands together. Harry didn't struggle but merely stared at Louis in amused sort of shock. 

'_Who the hell keeps rope in their dresser?'_ He thought with a small laugh. His amusement slowly melted into anxious fear. '_Great again, Styles...'_ Harry muttered in his head, '_Now Louis could probably kill you if he wanted. Once again, you've fucked up.'_

All amusement held in Harry's mind were immediately replaced by an intense wave of fear as he saw Louis pick up the gun he had brought into his room last night. Harry tried to pull his hands out of the rope binding his wrists but they only seemed to get tighter and tighter. Harry tried to sit himself up so he could get on his feet, but Louis shoved him back down roughly and sat on top of him, lowering his face so that they were barely an inch apart. 

"Maybe with your life on the line, you'll tell me the truth," Louis said firmly. Harry could tell that Louis didn't want to tie him up like this but he also knew that he'd probably do the same thing if he were in Louis's position. 

His nerves calmed a bit. He was going to be calm and not show any sign of fear. Maybe Louis would mistake fear for guilt. Everybody did that at one point or another. 

"Harry Styles, tell me. Were you at my house the night El -er... Eleanor Calder was murdered?" Louis asked, eyes digging into Harry's as if searching for the truth. 

"Yes," Harry answered simply. He had been telling the truth the entire time and was getting really tired of repeating himself. 

"Okay then, did you see Danielle there as well?" Louis's questions weren't getting straight to the point... What had Danielle tried to make him believe?" 

"Yes," Harry answered again. He fought the temptation to look around the room and stared back into Louis's eyes just as intensely as Louis was staring into his own. He didn't want to give Louis a reason to say he was a liar. 

"Did she witness you murder Eleanor?" Louis's voice held a fierce edge to it. It was kind of hot in Harry's opinion.

"No, I witnessed _her_ kill Eleanor," Harry answered calmly. There was no use getting worked up over something that by now should be so obvious to Louis. Couldn't he see the look in Danielle's eyes that practically screamed _guilty_?

"That's not what she said," Louis replied. "She said that she happened to be in the area when she heard a woman scream. She went to see what was wrong and saw you standing over her body. She said that you caught a sight of her and ran to the window towards her. She ran but you shouted after her that you would kill her." 

"Bull-fucking-shit," Harry said, still in a calm voice. Louis looked slightly surprised at his tone but said nothing about it. 

"So she's the liar?" Louis asked. It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yes," Harry said, nodding. "She works with me for Miss Swift who is rather fond of her. That's about all I can tell you about my working environment with her, because I honestly don't pay that much attention to her. She's a bitch, and will always be a bitch. I'm sorry if that's not enough information to make you believe me."

Louis glared intently down at his feet.

"I slept with El's... murderer?" he asked almost completely to himself, his voice shaking with either fear, or rage. Harry could hardly tell which.

"FUCK!" Louis shouted as he kicked over a stand carrying some books. Harry watched somewhat concerned as Louis dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. If Louis was crying, then Harry couldn't hear him, but he could see his entire body trembling violently.

Harry's fear crashed back down into his body as he watched Louis reach for his gun, and slowly lift it upwards to his own head. 

\--

_'You fucked up...'_ was the only thing Louis could think of at that moment. He couldn't believe he had slept with Eleanor's murderer. Of course, that hadn't been proven but Louis was still mortified.

His eyes fell back down to his gun. _'I'm sorry, El...'_ he thought. _'But I can't take this... I'm not sure who did what, who to believe, or even what really happened, and now I may have slept with your murderer! If I didn't, then I just saved the life of your other possible murderer... either way, I can't take the shame. I'm sorry...'_ Louis lifted the gun up to his head and rested his finger lightly on the trigger.

"Fuck!" Louis heard Harry yelp. "Lou, put the fucking gun down!" he was shouting. Why did he care anyways?

"I-I'm sorry..." Louis whispered again. Harry struggled to get out of the ropes binding his hands together. For a moment, Louis watched him with confusion. Why did he care if Louis shot himself? It's not like it'd be any personal loss to him.

Suddenly, the thought of shooting himself and leaving Harry behind made him feel even more upset... but why? Why, why WHY?!

"Goddammit, Lou! _Please,_ put the fucking gun down... Louis, I'm begging you! Put. It. DOWN!" Harry was screaming. Louis glanced once more at Harry, shocked when he saw tears brimming his eyes.

"What the fuck, Haz?" he asked, without meaning to.

Harry managed to slip one hand free from his bindings and used it to balance himself as he stood up. He slowly began to walk towards Louis who tightened his grip on the gun. He didn't want Harry getting into this now.

"Lou..." Harry began calmly. "Look, put the gun down... You'll never avenge Eleanor's death if you're dead."

Louis sighed heavily, knowing that Harry was right. He slowly brought the gun down to his side and dropped it next to his feet. Harry sighed in relief and Louis's eyes filled with tears.

"Fuck..." he muttered, staring at the gun at his feet. He took a few steps away from it and then collapsed onto his bed, burying his face in a pillow. He felt a hand on his shoulder and immediately turned around to throw himself into Harry's arms. He didn't know why but he felt a wave of comfort whenever Harry was near him. Harry who was softly stroking his hair.

"Are you okay, Louis?" he asked. Louis nodded, refusing to cry in front of Harry. Harry pulled Louis's face up to his and gazed into his eyes. Louis felt as if Harry was searching through his eyes to his soul. 

He felt a strong urge to kiss Harry's full pink lips as he glanced down at them. There was just something about this Harry Styles that Louis loved so much.

Louis was surprised when he felt those lips collide with his own and even more surprised at the fact that he himself hadn't moved. It was Harry who made the first move! Louis felt like staying in that moment forever... until a sharp wave of fear washed over him. This could still be Eleanor's killer!

He pushed himself away from Harry and jumped off the bed towards the door, never letting his eyes leave Harry's. To his surprise, Harry looked... Upset?

"I-I've just decided... I think I will go to work today..." Louis said quickly before turning and running out his bedroom, not once looking back at the hurt face he left behind.

\--

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!" Harry shouted as he began his walk back to the main streets so he could catch a ride home. He had let temptation get the better of him. He probably wouldn't have been so angry with himself, had Louis not thought that he was Miss Eleanor Calder's killer. _'Fuck, I'm so fucking stupid for that...'_ Harry thought. He was going to be kicking himself for weeks now.

Well, at least Louis was still alive. Damn him and that fucking gun. What was he thinking?

Harry stopped and leaned up against a tree, sighing heavily. He placed his hand over his chest and felt his heart begin to break. If only Louis didn't think that Harry had murdered his girlfriend. 

He sat under that tree for about an hour just thinking about his feelings for the young man and finally came into a conclusion.

"I love him..." Harry muttered. "I can't get him out of my mind. Even though we haven't known each other for very long and the circumstances haven't been very great... I love him."

After a little while more, Harry finally found the feeling in his feet and walked back to catch a cab home. Once he reached his house, he unlocked the door and opened it, gasping when he saw a few familiar faces.

\--

"God-fucking-damnit!" Louis shouted as he drove his car into the direction of the building where Mr. Cowell worked. He wasn't actually planning on going to work but he just needed to get out of that situation as fast as he could. What the fuck was happening to him? First he had gotten an _urge_ to kiss Harry, then he had enjoyed it when Harry had kissed him instead. Fuck...

Louis made a turn in the opposite direction of the work building and continued his journey aimlessly. He had no idea where he was going, but at the moment, he really didn't care. He just had to clear his mind.

He hadn't paid close enough attention to the traffic as suddenly, heard a loud noise, people screaming and then a crash. "Dammit!" he shouted right before his car made contact with another one even though he had slammed his breaks as soon as he had noticed the nearing car.

Louis's eyes were going in and out of focus, just fighting to stay awake... He felt an overwhelming darkness surround him, and eventually gave in to the welcoming darkness.

_\--_

_Louis opened his eyes slowly, wondering what had just happened. He surely wasn't in the place where he had blacked out. Louis_ _ rubbed his eyes, still struggling to see straight. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something white flash by. Louis quickly turned his head in the direction of the white flash, but it was gone._

_Louis sighed heavily and slowly lifted himself up. He began looking around, but all he could see was black._

_Suddenly, the same white flash Louis had seen before flashed in front of him. Louis's breath caught in his throat as he stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and falling backwards. This time, he didn't hit his head and didn't feel any pain at all._

_Once again, the white flash appeared before him but did not disappear. It took Louis a while to realize that this white flash of light was actually a person._

_"Hello, Lou," the white figure said, and Louis noted that it was female._

_"Who are you?" Louis asked. "And where am I?"_

_"Don't you recognize me? Ugh! Lou, you're so blind sometimes!" the voice snapped, and Louis's eyes widened._

_"El?" he asked, finally recognizing the voice._

_The figure lifted a ghostly pale hand to it's face and pulled away what looked like a veil covering most of her face. Ice blue eyes gleamed back at Louis with amusement, and Louis gasped._

_"What the fuck?" he asked. "How did you get here? I thought you were de-" Eleanor cut Louis off then._

_"I am dead. You're dreaming Louis... that's how you can see me," she informed him._

_"Why are you here?" Louis asked, voice shaking a little._

_"Aw, Louuuu..." she whined. "Don't you want to see me?" _ _She smiled then but Louis could see a restless sort of look in her eyes._

_"I came to you because you need help... as do I," she said. "You're having trouble deciding who it really is who murdered me, and I can't rest until that person is dead," she concluded._

_Louis jumped up._

_"And you can tell me who did it! Why didn't I think of knocking myself out and asking you before?" Louis said. Eleanor shook her head, laughing._

_"Actually, I'm not even sure who it is..." she muttered. "I had my eyes closed when the whole thing happened."_

_"But, couldn't you have seen anyways... when you died?" Louis asked rather lamely but Eleanor knew what he meant._

_"No, actually. You'd think I could, but I really couldn't..." _

_Louis sat down again, placing his head in his hands in frustration._

_"Well, you're no help!" he snapped. Eleanor sighed heavily, clutching her white robe around her tightly._

_"I can only tell you that Harry Styles is innocent." she said. Louis looked back up._

_"So Danielle did it!" he shouted. Eleanor_ _ shrugged._

_"I just thought I'd relieve some of that stress on you... I'm still not sure exactly who killed me but at least now you can stop denying your feelings..."_

_Louis frowned at her. _ _"What do you mean?" he asked and for some reason, his thoughts fell to Harry._

_"You're in love with Harry," she answered as casually as if she had just made a comment about the weather. Louis's eyes widened. He wanted to deny it but knew deep down it to be true. All he could think about was Harry... even when he slept with Danielle, he had imagined it was Harry. A thought struck Louis instantly._

_"Eleanor," he stated. "I think I may have slept-" once again, Eleanor cut him off._

_"With Danielle," she finished. "It's okay... you're not even sure if she's really my murderer." Louis felt relief flood over him._

_"Good..." he muttered. Eleanor changed the subject._

_"So, about Harry... Are you going to tell him you love him?" she asked. _

_Once again, Louis wanted to deny it, but instead heard himself saying; _ _"I don't know... I'm not sure if he loves me back."_

_Eleanor _ _coughed. _ _"He KISSED you for fuck's sake!" she exclaimed. "Now go! Go tell him how you feel! GO!" she shouted and shoved Louis with icy fingers._

\--

Louis awoke right outside his work building. He frowned, not remembering how he got there, but shrugged it off. He had to get Harry's address so he could go see him.

The walk up to Mr. Cowell's office didn't take very long. Before he knew it, he was standing outside the door. He put his usual smart-ass personality in play and shoved the door open without knocking.

Mr. Cowell looked up at him, startled. "Good Lord, Tomlinson!" he exclaimed but Louis ignored him.

  
"Hello Mr. Cowell. I suppose you'd want me to tell you that I've murdered Mr. Styles, right?" Mr. Cowell looked back at Louis, a hopeful look in his eye.

"Well done, Louis, I always knew-"

Louis, after being cut off from his sentences twice that day, decided he'd take that out on Mr. Cowell. "Well, I forgot," he said casually. "But, if you give me his house address, I'll see what I can do."

Louis watched in amusement as Mr. Cowell's face began to steadily tint itself crimson with anger. Mr. Cowell seemed like he was forcing himself not to get angry and start screaming at him.

_'Bummer...'_ Louis thought. _'He's always so funny when he yells like that...'_

Mr. Cowell reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a blank piece of paper. He began to write Harry's house address on it and handed it to Louis, still fuming.

"Thank you very much, Sir," Louis added before walking out of the office and closing the door behind him to mask the screams of rage.

\--

"Holy shit!" Harry exclaimed as a man with blonde hair tackled Harry with hugs. Another man with brown hair joined the hug.

"N-Niall?" Harry asked and the man with blonde hair nodded. "Lewis?" the man with brown hair nodded as well at the mention of his name. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We missed the hell outta you!" Niall said. "Things got kinda... boring in New York without you." Lewis nodded in agreement.

"Unfortunately, Zayn and Liam couldn't come but they said they'd be out here as soon as they could." Lewis said. Harry looked back and forth between his two friends and then pulled them both into another back-breaking embrace.

Gemma came walking out of her bedroom and smiled at the three of them. "They arrived here about an hour ago. I told them you were out and would be back soon," Gemma said.

Harry grinned at her sister. 

About an hour had passed in which Niall, Lewis, and Harry were becoming reacquainted with each other after such a long time. They found out that none of them had changed an ounce. Except Harry... but he really didn't want to mention his job at the moment.

Niall and Lewis, along with their other friends Liam and Zayn had moved to New York about seven years ago. They all stayed in contact with Harry for another five years before completely losing contact. Here they were, two years later, relaxing in Harry's living room in London.

They all joked and laughed and told stories about when they were all younger until the doorbell rang.

Lewis frowned. "Liam and Zayn can't be here _so_ soon," he muttered. Niall nodded in agreement. Harry shrugged and got up. He walked towards the door and turned the knob to open it. 


	7. Chapter 7

Louis drove his car towards the address Mr. Cowell had written for him. He knew exactly where he had to go because his uncle lived around the same area, so he knew that neighborhood well. 

The houses were all one-story high and not very brightly colored. It made Louis feel like he was in an old 1940's movie. 

He stopped car outside of the house that matched the address on the paper and suddenly realized that he had no idea what to say to Harry. He bit his bottom lip nervously and got out of his car. He braced himself and walked up to the door.

He raised his fist to knock but quickly lowered it. The butterflies in his tummy were moving at a top speed and there was no way for him to slow them down. He tried to think of exactly_ what _he would say but couldn't think of any way to put it into words. He guessed he ended up playing it by ear. 

Louis took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. He heard a faint movement from inside, guessing it was Harry getting up to answer the door. Louis contemplated running away but his feet were glued to the spot. His breath caught in his throat and his heartbeat damn near stopped when the door began to open. 

\--

Harry's heart leaped when he saw who was standing at his door. 

"Lou?" he asked. Louis nodded slowly. He looked nervous to Harry. 

_'He's so cute when he's nervous like that..'_ Harry caught himself thinking. He quickly brushed his thoughts aside and let Louis in. 

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, wondering how Louis had known where he lived. Louis cast a quick glance and a shy wave at Lewis and Niall before turning back to Harry. 

"I, erm, I wanted to talk to you for a moment," he said. Harry nodded. He guessed it was about his _slip _earlier that day when he had kissed Louis. Since he really didn't want to talk about it, he decided to introduce everyone in the room to give him some time. 

"Okay but first... This is Niall and Lewis," he said, gesturing at each of the guys in turn. "And guys, this is Louis." Louis once again waved shyly to Niall and Lewis and they waved back. Harry nudged Louis.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked but, to Harry's relief, Louis finally shook his head. 

"Later," he said and Harry noticed that he looked slightly relieved as well. What was it that had Louis so nervous?

Harry shrugged, then offered Louis a seat. Louis smiled gratefully, then took the seat being offered to him. Harry sat next to him. 

For a while, Harry continued his conversation with Niall and Lewis while Louis stayed quiet but when the conversation turned to music, Louis had to chime in. After a few hours, Harry and Niall were both in tears from laughing so hard at Louis and Lewis's heated argument about which band was the best between Queen and The Beatles. 

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Louis was shouting. "Do _not _even joke about that! The Beatles are simply not as good as Queen. End of the goddamned story." 

"Shut the fuck up," Lewis snapped back. "Your head is obviously a little fucked up. The Beatles are the better band." 

Louis and Lewis continued their argument while Harry and Niall watched, amused. Finally, both men agreed on a truce, saying that both bands were extremely talented and neither was better than the other. Harry was amazed at how quickly Louis went from shy and quiet to loud and obnoxious. He loved it. 

'_You've got to tell Louis how you feel, Harry...'_ Harry told himself. He desperately wanted to tell Louis his feelings and have those feelings returned from him, but he knew that the chances of this happening were very slim. 

Harry sighed, submitting to that thought, and sat back on the couch. He decided he was going to admire Louis from afar. At least for now. He was much too afraid to express feelings to someone who _still_ could have him killed. 

Louis had definitely been accepted into their little group. Granted, Lewis and Niall didn't know anything about Louis, or how dangerous the man was. Harry watched, amused, as the three guys laughed and made jokes. Louis shot him a glance from the corner of his eye, noticing that Harry was suddenly silent. 

"Harry?" Louis asked and Harry looked up into those gorgeous blue eyes. They sat in silence for a few more seconds before Louis got up, looking somewhat nervous again. "I think now we should talk..." he said. 

Harry nodded and got up as well. He smiled at his other two friends, saying that they would be back in a moment. Harry led Louis into his bedroom and closed the door behind. 

\--

"What's wrong?" Harry asked Louis, still a little concerned that he'd hear about the kiss back in Louis's apartment. Louis once again looked nervous. 

"I think I'm.. oh fuck." 

Harry watched Louis struggle through his words for a while, confused as to why Louis was acting this way. 

"Oh, fuck it. Nevermind. I'm fucking stupid..." 

Louis made a move to leave the room but Harry's hand shot out, holding him back. Harry wasn't even sure himself why he had stopped him. Louis gave him a questioning look.

"Please, stay," Harry said. Louis frowned slightly but Harry saw a blush begin to tint his cheeks. He bit his lip and nodded, sitting down on Harry's bed. 

"Haz, I'm sorry," Louis said. Now it was Harry's turn to look confused. 

"For what, darling?" Harry asked. Louis sighed and laid back on Harry's bed, resting his head on the pillows. 

"For thinking you murdered Eleanor..." 

Harry stared at Louis. Did he finally believe him? What had Harry done for Louis to finally trust him? 

"It's alright. And I'm sorry for my... erm, slip, earlier today at your house." 

Louis frowned. "I... I enjoyed it," he confessed. Harry coughed. 

"Y-you what?" Harry's voice was oddly high-pitched. Louis stood up and once again went to leave the room but Harry stood up too, crossing the room in three quick steps and pulling Louis back. 

"Lou..." Harry started, then realized he really didn't know what he was gonna say. Louis just stared at him, looking very anxious. Then, Harry was taken by surprise as Louis shoved him up against the wall next to the door, his face extremely close to him.

"Did you not hear me?" Louis asked in a low voice that sent shivers up Harry's spine. " I said I enjoyed it." Harry couldn't help but smile. 

"How much?" Harry asked in a low voice; as low and seductive as he could make it. He felt Louis shiver a little. The tone Harry used was enough to help Louis make up his mind. Louis leaned forward and met Harry's lips for a rough yet passionate kiss. 

Harry felt like electricity was pulsing through his and Louis's veins, connecting them. He wrapped his arms around Louis's neck, pulling him closer. He gasped slightly as he felt Louis's hands slowly slide their way up his shirt and around his waist. Louis took advantage of Harry's gasp and slipped his tongue into his mouth.

Harry felt Louis's tongue wrap around his own and moaned a little. He began to trail his hands down Louis's sides to his pants-line. He gently tugged the belt loops on Louis's skinny jeans to bring his lover's body up against his own. Louis moaned as the contact of Harry's body with his own sent shivers straight down to his growing erection. 

Harry turned the tables, quickly pressing Louis against the wall instead. He pushed his hips against Louis's erection again, earning another moan from his newfound lover. Harry tugged at Louis's jeans again and began trying to pull them off when someone knocked at the door. Louis groaned in disappointment.

"What?" Harry yelled irritated. Gemma's voice came from the other side of the door. He sounded panicked.

"There's something very wrong!" she cried. "Something's wrong with... with..."

Harry stepped away from Louis, staring at the door visibly concerned. He opened the door to look at his sister who looked more panicked and worried than she had sounded.

"Gems..." Harry stepped a little closer, placing a hand on his big sister's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"It's... Lewis..." he said. "He's just been shot in the chest!"

\--

Louis sat next to a distressed Harry and Niall in a hospital room. Lewis had been shot and they had rushed him to the nearest hospital. When they got to him, he was unconscious.

Gemma was sitting on the opposite side of Lewis's hospital bed, still as pale looking as she had been before. Soon, Niall got up and began pacing the room nervously. Harry buried his face in his hands, shaking with silent sobs. Louis's eyes filled with tears as he watched his newfound friends. It was hard to believe that only a few days ago, he had hated Harry with every inch of his soul. Now, he felt his heart breaking just looking at his shaking form.

Louis placed his hand gently on Harry's shoulder, making him jump. Louis muttered an apology but Harry barely nodded in response. Louis sighed and turned his attention to Lewis. He remembered that argument they had had just a few short moments ago, and smiled sadly. He got up and stood next to Lewis's bed.

"You better wake up, Lewis..." he said, and suddenly all eyes were on him.

Harry frowned slightly, obviously confused as to why he was talking to Lewis's unconscious body but Louis ignored him and continued talking softly to Lewis. He remembered what Eleanor had once done when Louis had been shot during a job. She had met his family in the hospital and started talking softly to him about a few times they had spent together. Within moments, he had woken up. Maybe it would work with Lewis. 

Harry smiled softly and shook his head. He stood up.

"I'm gonna go and get some fresh air," he said and Louis turned to watch him leave the room, concerned for his safety.

\--

Harry walked outside the hospital and leaned up against the wall, breathing deeply. He sat against the wall for a while and began to think about Lewis. He had been shot... but by who? It couldn't have been Louis who had decided to come after him, after all. No. Louis had been with him.

Footsteps padded softly across the hospital's lawn, alerting Harry. He turned to look in that direction and felt his blood boil at the figure watching him. 

"What the fuck do you want?" Harry snapped, speaking in a dangerous voice. Danielle glanced back at him, a cigarette between her lips, and looked down at her feet, pretending that she didn't care much for Harry's presence.

"I asked you a question!" Harry snarled, taking a step towards her. Danielle immediately pulled a gun out and pointed it at Harry who froze.

"How's your friend?" she asked, voice mocking instead of concerned. Then, it hit Harry. 

"You!" he shouted, pointing at her. "You shot...you shot..."

Danielle laughed.

"I'll make a deal with you," she said in a businesslike tone. "I'll make sure none of your friends have any more '_accidents_' if you stay away from my Louis."

Harry coughed. He loved Louis... but he loved his friends as well.

"Bitch!" he yelled. He had no idea what else to say. Danielle just smiled at him before turning and walking away, leaving Harry staring after her, rage building in his stomach.

Suddenly, the doors to the hospital burst open and Harry turned to see Niall standing there, a smile on his face.

"Lewis's awake!" he said. He and Harry raced back inside the hospital to Lewis's room.

"You take that back _right now_! I swear, Louis!" 

Niall laughed out loud but Harry was confused. They opened the door to see Lewis play strangling a giggling Louis. 

"You know how Louis was talking to Lewis while he was unconscious?" Niall asked and Harry nodded. "Well, Louis said something about Queen and The Beatles and he just snapped awake!" 

Harry laughed, causing Louis's eyes dart to him. He pulled out of Lewis's grasp and smiled back at him. 

"I was joking..." he told Lewis who laid back on his hospital bed, exhausted. While Gemma and Niall explained what happened to Lewis, Harry grinned at Louis. 

"You're amazing," he said, causing Louis to blush. Harry turned and looked back at his friends before his thoughts fled back to what Danielle had said. He really didn't want to give Louis up but the way he saw it... He had no choice.

-

The doctors told them that Lewis was free to leave. Lewis was ecstatic about this, saying that an overnight stay in the hospital would have given him nightmares. Gemma, Lewis and Niall were grinning from ear to ear when they reached the car but neither Harry or Louis were. 

Harry had been awfully quiet. He hadn't spoken to Louis, touched Louis or even looked at him. At first, Louis had thought he was being a little paranoid but when they got in the car and Harry tried to sit as far away from Louis as possible, that's where his suspicions started to rise. As they pulled to a stop outside Harry's house, he saw two other men outside, waiting.

"Zayn! Liam!" Niall yelled and ran up to greet the two men. They smiled, exchanged hugs and talked a little before the one called Liam turned his attention to Lewis.

"What's this about you getting shot?" he asked. Louis listened to Lewis retell the story of what had happened. Louis frowned. There was one important detail that was missing every time he heard the story... who had shot him in the first place?

Zayn finally took a notice in Louis and introduced himself. Louis smiled and shook hands with the two men, becoming acquainted with both.

Once they had all gotten inside Harry's house, they sat down and talked. In a few short minutes, Louis had taken a liking to Zayn and Liam just as he had to Niall and Lewis. Gemma seemed really happy to see them all as well and joined their conversation. They all talked, laughed, and joked for a while before Louis realized that Harry still hadn't said a single word.

Louis focused his eyes on Harry who was staring out the window off to the horizon, looking deep in thought. He snap out of his trance when he noticed the ice blue eyes staring at him. Harry quickly averted his eyes which made Louis frown. What was wrong with him? Did he not want Louis here or something?

Louis thought back to his _assignment_. Kill Harry? He could never do that now. Hell, he was in love with the man! Of course, it hadn't been like that when Louis had first laid eyes on him... instead, he had felt a burning hatred towards him. A couple days ago, he would've had no problem killing Harry. But now, all of that had changed. Louis began to wonder how many of his victims he would've refused to kill if he had gotten to know them first.

He looked up only to see Harry getting up and walking into his room without a word. Puzzled, Louis excused himself from his new friends and hurried after Harry. He slowly pushed the door open, and saw Harry sitting on his bed, back towards the door. Louis silently crept up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"L-Lou.. I..." Harry started but trailed off.

"You've been very distant... What's wrong?" Louis asked. Harry looked down at his feet, avoiding his eyes. He was beginning to feel annoyed.

"It's nothing..." Harry said and Louis could easily tell he was lying.

"Don't lie to me," he said firmly. "I want to know what's wrong."

Louis placed his hand under Harry's chin to try and bring his face up to his level but Harry just turned away. Louis stood, now very annoyed.

"What did I do?" he asked in a loud, desperate voice. "Harry, if I did anything that upset you, I'd like to know about it now!" Harry stood, face tinted crimson in anger.

"It's not you!" Harry shouted back.

"Then what _is _it?" Louis pleaded. Harry stole a glance back up into Louis's eyes but quickly looked away.

"I think you should leave now, Louis," he said softly. Louis felt a cold sweat break over his entire body. His eyes began to burn as he tried to hold tears back. To his horror, he felt a tear leave his eye and leave a burning trail down his cheek. He turned, hoping that Harry hadn't seen it.

"Fine," he tried to snap but his voice was strained and defeated. "I'll... I'll leave then."

Harry looked as though he wanted nothing more than to take Louis into his arms and apologize a million times. Anything to make him stay. And Louis, perhaps foolishly, would've let him. As a matter of fact, he wanted nothing more than to run into his arms right that second but his pride glued him to the spot, only giving in when he decided to leave the room and Harry behind him.

He walked into the living room, tears blurring his vision. The guys all looked at him curiously but Louis just walked past them, said goodbye to all of them as he went and walked out the front door. Louis hadn't gotten even halfway down the driveway when he heard the front door open and shut. He turned and, to his surprise, saw Niall running towards him.

"Louis, wait!" he called. Louis came to a halt, waiting for Niall to reach him.

"What wrong?" Niall asked as he reached him. "One moment you're sitting and laughing with us and the next you're running out the door with tears in your eyes."

Louis touched his face only to realize that tears had, indeed, been falling from his eyes, and he hadn't noticed them. He bit his lip and tried to hide his blush but Niall had already seen everything.

"It's just... Harry," Louis choked before dropping to his knees and crying into his hands. All the pain of what must've been rejection was flooding through his eyes. Louis was surprised when he felt Niall gently lift him up and embrace him tightly. At first, Louis wanted to get as far away from Niall as possible, just so he could save himself some embarrassment, but soon found comfort in his embrace. He cried into Niall's shoulder while the man gently rubbed his back.

"You gonna be okay?" Niall asked when Louis had finally stopped crying. Louis nodded slowly.

"Yeah... thanks, Ni," Louis managed a smile, and it wasn't a false one either. It was true and sincere. Niall smiled back.

"Always happy to help. Hey, if you need anything," Niall reached into his pocket and pulled out a sharpie. He wrote his number on Louis's hand before putting the sharpie back into his pocket. "Just call me. I'll try to help you with anything you need."

Louis thanked Niall and hugged him again. As Louis got into his car and Niall walked back into the house, Louis smiled, knowing that he had found someone he could trust.

\--

_Ring! Ring!_

Mr. Cowell picked up his phone on the second ring. "Hello?" he answered. A voice he recognized answered back from the other side of the line.

"Hello, Simon," the voice had a dark, falsely cheery tone.

"Swift?" Mr. Cowell gasped in shock. He couldn't remember the last time he talked to this woman. 

"I have been informed by one of my trustworthy employees that another employee of mine and an employee of yours are becoming awfully close. Now, we can't have that, can we?"

"Who's becoming too close with who?" Mr. Cowell immediately wanted to know. Miss Swift ignored his question.

"Since neither of us can afford to let these two just walk free, I suggest setting a trap for them to fall into."

"A trap... like what?"

"The employee who told me these news, Miss Campbell, also had an idea. She suggested that we plan a party. A formal party, like a ball, and see that they're both there. Then, we can have a few of our top employees kill them together. Isn't that romantic?"

"But wouldn't the police find out?"

"You mean the band?" 

"Ha, ha, Swift," Mr. Cowell said dryly. He could almost hear Miss Swift roll her eyes on the other end of the line. 

"The police won't know shit."

"And Mr. Twist won't know either?" 

"If Mr. Twist knew about this, we would both end up dead. So, I'm not the one telling him." 

"Good," Mr. Cowell smiled. "I'm in but who, once again, are these two employees?" Miss Swift took a deep breath and let it out gently before answering.

"Mr. Louis Tomlinson and Mr. Harry Styles."


	8. Chapter 8

Louis buried his face in his pillows. He was desperately trying not to cry.

_'I didn't really want him to leave...'_ Harry thought. _'I just don't want any of my friends getting hurt. Or Louis.' _The bedroom door opened and Harry heard a soft tap on the wall.

"Haz?" it was Niall. "Can we talk?"

Harry sighed heavily. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone about anything but he sat up nonetheless and faced Niall expectantly. Niall sat down beside him on his bed.

"Where's Louis going?" Niall asked. Harry could feel his heart breaking.

"Home," Harry answered shortly.

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Because what, Harry?"

Harry was silent. He looked down at the floor, eyes swimming with tears. He wasn't going to let them fall... No.

Niall placed his hand under Harry's chin and lifted his face so they could make eye-contact.

"You love him, don't you?" he asked. Harry frowned slightly. _'What, is it plastered on my forehead or something? Written in big bold letters **I LOVE LOUIS TOMLINSON**?'_ Harry didn't voice those thoughts. He knew Niall was just concerned and he didn't want to make him angry or upset with smart-ass comments like that.

"Y-yes... I love him," Harry confessed.

"Does he love you back?" Niall asked, never breaking eye contact with his friend.

"I think so."

"So what's the problem?"

"It's a long story."

"I'll be here for a while."

Harry sighed. Niall was really stubborn sometimes. That's Niall Horan. Stubborn as a fucking mule.

"Fine," Harry gave in. "You better get comfortable... this is a long story and a few of the details you either won't believe or you'll be completely shocked. You have been warned..."

\--

Louis had finally reached home where his sister, Lottie, fussed over him, asking where he had been and why he had left in such a hurry. Louis answered her questions very shortly. He just wanted to go upstairs, take a shower and be alone.

After he brushed Lottie off, he rushed upstairs and grabbed a towel. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. After he had stripped down, he examined his face in the mirror. No wonder Lottie had been worried. Louis had trails of dirt down his face that his tears had brought, his eyes were red and puffy and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. It was safe to say that he didn't look like the happiest person on earth.

Or feel. 

Louis stepped into the shower and let the steamy water drench his face, washing the dirt and the remains of tears away. He closed his eyes and tried to enjoy the feeling of the water against his skin but every time his eyes were closed, his mind was flooded with images of Harry... The way his hands had felt as they had trailed their way up and down Louis's body... How his kiss had burned like white-hot passion... How his body had felt pressed up against his own...

Louis tried to brush those thoughts away but they just kept coming back even as he opened his eyes. Finally, he gave in to the thoughts, and placed his hand around his hardened cock. Leaning against the tiled wall, he began to stroke, thinking about Harry. The way his hips swayed ever so slightly when he walked... the way he pouted his full rose petal lips... the deep sound of his thick voice...

Louis let a moan escape his lips. He began to quicken his pace.

"H-Harry..." he moaned. He remembered how Harry's lips had felt against his neck... how sweet had the taste of those lips been... how-

The bathroom door burst open, and Louis heard a familiar voice. "Louis? Are you in here?"

Louis groaned. "What the fuck do you want, Danielle?" he snarled. He wished he had had enough sense to bring his gun with him into the bathroom; then he would have had a chance to kill the worthless woman who had taken his girlfriend's life.

The shower curtain opened and Danielle stuck her head inside, smiling when she saw Louis's obvious hard-on. "Let me help you with that..." she purred and stepped inside the shower with him.

"Fuck you!" Louis shouted and slammed her against the tile walls, hard. To his amazement, she just laughed.

"Lou..." she said as if she were talking to an impatient three-year-old. "I think it would be best that you just cooperate with me because, honestly..." she pulled Louis against her now and whispered into his ear, "What can you do to me that I don't want you to do?"

Louis wrenched away from her and to his surprise she looked hurt.

"Oh, Louis... You don't think I killed your friend, do you?" she asked, voice high-pitched and innocent. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "Mr. Styles is lying to you. He has been lying to you ever since you met him. Louis, please believe me!"

Louis took a few steps away from her. This couldn't be true. _Danielle _was the liar! Not Harry. But then, why was Harry acting so strange?

He sat down on the edge of the bathtub, overwhelmed by his thoughts. Danielle sat next to him and placed her arms around his shoulders.

"Aww... he fooled you, didn't he?" she asked, voice soothing and mother-like. "He made you fall in love with him. He does that to all of his victims but consider yourself one of the lucky ones. He hasn't killed you yet."

What Danielle said did _make sense_. How else would she have known that Louis was in love with Harry? The two didn't exactly make it obvious.

Danielle rubbed his shoulders gently. "Hey, my boss is thinking of throwing a party. You know, like a ball. Maybe you could come! It would really relieve your stress. You look like you could use it," she offered. Louis shrugged. He couldn't see why not. Maybe Danielle was right... Maybe it would help him relieve some stress.

"Good. I'll give you the details as soon as I get them," she smiled coldly. So cold it could've frozen a person's heart. Louis got up and dried himself.

"Leave, Danielle," he said. He really didn't like the idea of Danielle staying overnight with him. A part of him feared that she would murder him in his sleep and the other part felt as if he was betraying Harry.

Danielle nodded.

"First, may I have a change of clothes?" she asked and Louis realized now that when she had stepped into the shower with him, she had been fully clothed. Now, she was completely soaked. 

Louis nodded and began rummaging around in his drawers. He pulled out a plain white T-Shirt and a baggy pair of sweatpants. He threw them at Danielle who smiled again, taking humor in Louis's anger.

After she had changed, she thanked Louis and left, closing the door behind her. Louis looked around the room for his gun. It was on his bedside table where Harry had set it after Louis had thought of making an attempt at suicide.

_'Why didn't he just let me die? If what Danielle says is true, why didn't he let me die, for fuck's sake?'_ Louis pounded his fist into his pillow. Just a minute ago, he had been so certain that Eleanor's murderer had been Danielle, but now he was right back where he had started.

\--

_"Louis Tomlinson!" a scolding voice called out to him. Louis opened his eyes and saw Eleanor, still dressed in her white robes, standing over him. He got up and faced Eleanor._

_"You don't listen to a word I say, do you?" she snapped. Wow... it was almost as if she had never died._

_"What are you talking about?" Louis asked, fighting to hold that last comment back. She sighed and shook her head._

_"You're right, Louis, it is almost as if I never died. You never listened to me when I was alive, either!" Eleanor yelled. Louis jumped. Had she read his thoughts?_

_"How did you..." Louis trailed off._

_"You guessed right," Eleanor said. "I can read your thoughts." Louis'_ _s mouth dropped._

_"Cool!" he exclaimed. "What am I thinking now?"_

_Eleanor groaned._ _"Louis... you haven't changed. You're still such a kid."_

_"Of course, I haven't! It's only been a week."_

_Eleanor stepped closer to Louis. Only it looked more like she was floating on air. She placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him gently._

_"Harry. Styles. Did. Not. Kill. Me," she spoke very slowly, shaking Louis after every word._

_Louis sighed. He remembered his last conversation with Eleanor but trying to convince himself that he had had a conversation with his friend's ghost just didn't settle right, did it?_

_"I understand it's hard to believe that you can talk to me," Eleanor stated. "But you have to, please, please, PLEASE, believe this is real."_

_Louis looked into Eleanor's lifeless, grey eyes. He couldn't read any emotion but Eleanor's voice sounded convincing. Finally, he nodded._

_"Okay. I believe you," he said. Eleanor smiled but Louis continued. "But a chance for Harry and I to even have a friendship has pretty much been fucked up." He looked down sadly._

_Eleanor placed an icy cold hand on Louis's cheek, making him shiver. Eleanor pulled her hand away, apologizing._

_"So, what happened?" she asked._

_"I... I don't know," Louis answered truthfully. "One moment we were... erm," Louis decided to leave out the near-sex they almost had. "We were 'getting along' just fine and then, when we got home from the hospital, he wouldn't even look at me!"_

_"Hospital?" Eleanor asked. Louis nodded._

_"Yeah, his friend got shot, so we rushed him to the hospital. He's okay, so-"_

_"Tell me everything."_

_Louis looked up at Eleanor surprised but, nonetheless, he told Eleanor what had happened to Lewis. Eleanor looked thoughtful._

_"Hm... I'm sure his odd behavior is linked to that somehow," Eleanor muttered. "Maybe he just needs a little bit of time to himself?" _ _It was more of a question than a suggestion._

_"I don't know," Louis mumbled. He didn't want to talk about Harry anymore. He was becoming very depressed._

_"Why don't you ask him?"_

_"Don't you think I tried that!" Louis snapped. He really didn't mean to snap. He was probably just tired. Eleanor shrugged and clutched her robe tighter around her, up to her chin. Louis frowned._

_"Why do you wear your dress like that?" he asked. Anything to change the subject. Eleanor looked hesitant._

_"It's a robe, Louis, not a dress," she corrected._

_"So, why do you wear it like that?" Louis asked again. Eleanor shook her head._

_"You should go now. Wake up, Louis... wake up... wake up..."_

_\--_

"Louis Tomlinson, wake up!" 

Louis groaned and opened his eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight. Lottie stood over him, shaking him awake.

"Finally!" she breathed. "I thought I was gonna have to beat you awake! You have work today, you fool. You've gotta start getting ready. Louis groaned again.

"Fuck work, fuck Mr. Cowell, fuuuuuck," Louis tried to pull his blanket back over his head but Lottie yanked it off of him.

"Get up," she yelled and pulled Louis by his ankle out of his bed, letting him fall to the floor with a loud _thud._

"Oww..." Louis lied on the floor and stubbornly pulled a pillow over his head. After his chat with Eleanor, he didn't feel like he had slept an ounce. He just wanted to rest. Lottie sighed heavily.

"Louis," she stated but Louis didn't respond. She gently nudged him with her foot and he made an irritated squeak, like a cat would make after its tail had been pulled.

Louis sat through Lottie's pokes and nudges for a while longer before his mother abruptly stopped.

"Oh," she made a soft, startled sound and Louis could hear her footsteps backing up a bit. "Lou?" Louis sighed heavily and looked up at his sister.

"What's wrong?" he asked and Lottie pointed towards Louis's window.


	9. Chapter 9

"Holy shit," Niall said after Harry was finished telling him everything. Harry had told him about the job he had been forced into, how he and Louis met, how Louis was convinced that Harry killed his girlfriend Miss Eleanor Calder, how Danielle had framed him for the entire thing and now how Danielle was threatening him with his friends' lives if he didn't stay away from Louis.

Harry sighed. "It's okay if you don't believe me," he murmured but Niall cut him off.

"Of course, I believe you," he said indignantly. "I've known you long enough to know that you wouldn't make this shit up." Harry smiled.

"Thanks Niall," he said before falling into his friend's tight embrace. After a few seconds, Niall turned to face Harry him again.

"So, you're just gonna let him go?" he asked and Harry sighed.

"What choice do I have?" Harry slumped back down into his pillows.

"I think you can at least go explain everything to him," Niall suggested. "That way, he doesn't think you hate him. Before he left, I talked to him outside and he was crying, Harry. I let him cry in my arms just as I let you." Harry's eyes were wide.

"H-he was crying?" he asked incredulously. No way... Louis Tomlinson crying? Over him? Was he really that great of a loss for him?

Niall nodded softly. Harry sat for a moment. True, he did want to go see Louis and explain everything to him, but what if he somehow ran into Danielle? He checked the clock and shook his head.

"We can't go now," he said. "Let's wait until morning while Danielle is at work."

Niall smiled and nodded. "In the meantime, you try and get some rest," he said as he pulled Harry's blankets around him.

"Where will you and the others sleep?" Harry asked.

"Don't you worry about it. Zayn and Liam will probably share a room with Gems and I guess Lewis and I will sleep on the couch for the night." 

Harry didn't like the idea of his friends sleeping on the couch and being crammed into a small room but he knew Niall wouldn't let him argue with him. He just curled up on his side and snuggled against the pillows, smiling as Niall kissed his forehead and whispered, "Good night."

When Niall left the room, Harry stared at his bedroom wall. Tomorrow morning, he would go see Louis. He still couldn't believe that Louis had been crying over him. His mind fell on the moment they had shared before Lewis had been shot, and his eyes fell to the exact place where it had happened. He closed his eyes and tried to get the images out of his mind so he could sleep but even when he finally did drift off to sleep, Louis Tomlinson was in his dreams all throughout the night until he woke up early in the morning.

\--

**'Danielle's pov'**

_'Yes! I got him now. All I need to do is convince Louis to go to that formal ball and find a way to get Harry personally invited. Then I got him right where I want him.'_

Danielle stood over the now lifeless body of her newest victim, a woman named Briana Jungwirth. She wiped the blood from her hands on her skirt. 

_'Ah... Revenge will be sweet." _

\--

"Niall," Harry gently shook his friend but he wouldn't budge an inch. "Niall!" 

Niall merely turned on his side, back facing Harry. Harry tried to maintain his composure. He didn't want to wake Lewis up. He continued shaking Niall.

"Ni, wake up!" he whispered loudly. "You're supposed to go with me to Louis's house!"

After a long battle between the two men, Niall finally opened his eyes and stared groggily at Harry's pale form. 

"Wassa matter?" Niall slurred, his voice thick with sleep. 

"Get up. You said you'd go with me to Louis's house," Harry stated. "It has to be soon because Danielle has to work early in the morning."

"Do you really think she's with him now?" Niall asked, voice sounding a little more awake.

"Not really but I'm pretty sure she'll drop in occasionally to check on him." Harry answered, an angry glint in his eyes. "I know her better than anyone does."

Niall nodded and sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. Harry looked at him, apologetically. "I'm really sorr-"

"Hush, dear. I promised I'd go with you. I chose to be awake with you this early," Niall cut Harry off. "So there's no need to apologize."

Harry nodded and smiled. Niall was always so understanding. He was someone Harry knew he could trust with his life. A shudder ran up his spine as he thought about what Danielle had said. Would she really hurt his friends if she caught him with Louis again? Harry looked again at Niall but stopped his thoughts as quickly as possible. The thought of Niall being injured in any way made his heart shatter.

Niall got up and walked around, muttering irritably to himself. Harry only caught a few words. "If I were my shoes... where would I be...?" 

Harry had to stop himself from laughing for fear of waking up Lewis. Less than ten minutes later, Niall was standing at the door.

"Well, come on then," he said. "Let's get your lover back."

\--

Lottie took a few more steps towards the door, uncertainly. Louis frowned as he recognized who was at his window, motioning towards the latch to indicate that he wanted to be let inside.

Louis jumped up, suddenly wide awake, and opened the window, helping a figure with blonde hair into the room. "Niall?" Louis asked, surprised. How did Niall even know where he lived? His questions were answered by Niall himself.

"Harry's too much of a pussy to come up here and face you himself," he explained. Louis nodded. Well, at least now he knew how Niall got here.

"Uhm," a small, high-pitched voice came from behind Louis. Louis turned to face his sister, looking very awkward.

"Oh, Lottie, this is Niall. A friend of mine. Niall, this is my sister, Lottie," Louis introduced. Niall nodded and shook Lottie's hand. She looked a little more relieved.

"Should I get you two anything?" she offered. Louis smiled. His sister was always thoughtful like that. Louis looked at Niall and saw his eyes widen a bit like a hopeful puppy.

"Coffee?" Louis asked and Niall looked up.

"If it isn't too much trouble..."

Louis pointed towards the spot where Lottie had been standing. She had already bustled downstairs to the kitchen.

"She really doesn't mind. You could ask Lottie to make you a three-course-meal and she'd do it," Louis said. Niall nodded and Louis had to laugh at the shocked look on his face.

"Hang on," Niall said and walked towards the window. He leaned his head out and shouted something in a language Louis didn't understand. He felt his heart skip several beats when he heard Harry's voice answer in the same foreign language. '_Harry could talk French?' _Louis thought to himself before he remembered the night they had first met. Harry had whispered something to him in French. 

_'Stop it, Louis!'_ Louis mentally scolded himself. _'I think Harry has made it quite clear that he doesn't like you. Stop thinking about him!'_

Niall pulled his head back from the window and smiled at Louis.

"He's coming up," he announced.

Louis nodded slowly. "You know," he said breathlessly, "We _do_ have a front door, too." 

_'I am not going to turn all soft. I have to be strong when I see him again. I'm not in love... I'm not in love... I'm... not... falling... I'm... in love...'_

Despite Louis's efforts to calm down and prepare himself, he felt his stomach lurch at the sight of Harry's emerald eyes coming into view and briefly locking with his own before turning away. Niall helped Harry step into the room and Louis, once again, felt the awkwardness come back full force.

"Louis," Niall stated. "Harry has something to say."

Harry shuffled his feet. He reminded Louis of a small child who had just been scolded by their parents. He had to admit, it was majorly cute.

"I'll go downstairs and see if I can help Lottie with anything," Niall said and walked out of the room before either him or Harry could say a word. 

There was silence, which Louis spent listening to Niall stumbling ungracefully down the stairs, followed by what sounded like angry curses. He knew his house was difficult to get used to at first but jeez. Having trouble even walking down the stairs? Louis smiled to himself. That's exactly what he needed to lighten his mood a bit.

"Uhh... Lou?" Harry broke the silence between them. "I think you deserve an explanation."

Louis sat down cross-legged on his bed and patted the spot next to him for Harry to sit down. After a moment's hesitation, Harry took the seat that had been offered to him.

"Look, I'm sorry for making you leave like that. It's not that I don't like you because I _really _do."

Louis heard Danielle's words repeat in his head. He bit his lip hard and tried to stop the words from dancing around in his mind. _'Danielle is the liar! Not Harry,'_ he screamed in his head. _'Eleanor said so herself!'_

Louis desperately wanted to believe that.

"Here's the entire story," Harry took a deep breath. "After we took Lewis to the hospital, I went outside to get some air. Well, you may or may not believe me, but Danielle was there as well. She told me that if I didn't stay away from you, she was going to seriously injure one of my friends. And besides my sister, they're all I've got," Harry's eyes began to fill with tears.

"My parents are dead. My entire family moved away from me, except my sister. My friends _just _recently returned to me. Louis, I just _can't _lose them! They're all I've got left. Without them life is meaningless," Harry broke off and placed his face in his hands. Louis felt his heart soften immediately. He wondered what Harry would do if Louis held him. 

He decided to find out. 

Louis gently wrapped his arms around Harry's thin waist. When Harry didn't protest, Louis pulled him against his chest and held him. They sat in the silence for a few seconds before Louis heard Harry's soft sobs muffled into his shirt. Louis stroked Harry's hair as his crying got more intense and even felt a few tears spill out from behind his own bright sapphires.

Taking another chance, Louis lifted Harry's face so that he could look into his eyes. He gently pressed his lips upon Harry's in a sweet, gentle kiss. Harry didn't fight but instead melted into Louis's kiss and embrace.

"Now you have me as well," Louis said. He knew he sounded corny but he didn't care. It was the truth and no one, not even Danielle, was going to stand in their way. Harry smiled at Louis and kissed his cheek.

"That makes me happy," he said, voice still thick with sobs. _'But for how long,'_ he added in his mind. Louis tried to soothe him a little more by running his fingers through Harry's soft, sweet-smelling hair. Then, an idea came to Louis.

"I found out that there is some stupid formal ball coming up for my work community. I don't know all the details yet but, once I do, would you want to go?" Louis asked, hopeful. Maybe after the ball, they could go with Harry's old plan and sneak away to New York! It would be perfect.

Harry shrugged.

"I would like another chance to see you again," he said. 

Louis smiled. "Great. So I'll get the info as soon as I can."

Harry nodded and curled back up against Louis's chest like a newborn kitten. They sat in sweet silence once again, until Harry spoke.

"Hey, Lou?"

"Yeah?" 

"I love you."

Louis felt his heart stop. It almost exploded with happiness. "I love you too, my sweet Hazza."

\--

Harry nervously pulled at the tie wrapped around his neck. Niall shook his head, frustrated with him. "You keep asking me to fix your tie for you, when _you're _the one who keeps messing it up!" Niall exclaimed but then his expression softened. "Why are you so nervous, anyways?"

Harry shrugged. He honestly didn't know why he was so nervous. After he and Niall had left Louis's house a couple days ago, Harry told Niall and the others about the formal ball. That ball was tonight and Harry had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling that grew as Niall drove closer and closer to the place where the ball was to be held.

Zayn, Lewis and Liam bounced around excitedly in the backseat of Niall's car. Harry couldn't help smiling at them as they parked the car. As Harry got out, he looked up at the tall building with at least 30 stories to it if not more. All the lights were out in every window except for the ones at the very top floor, which is where Harry assumed the ball would be taking place.

_'The fact that the formal ball is held at the top of the building would make it difficult to escape if something was to happen...'_ Harry shocked himself with this thought. Why all of a sudden did he have the strongest urge to crawl back into Niall's car and hide?

Liam patted Harry on the shoulder. "You alright?" he asked. "You look sick." 

Harry shrugged again. Words seemed to fail him lately.

Niall gave Harry a comforting smile almost as if he knew what was bothering Harry. Even Harry didn't know. Part of him wanted to scream at Niall, to beg him to tell him what was wrong with him but it was the more stable part of him that returned Niall's smile, bit his lip and walked slowly into the dark building.

\--

"Lou!" 

Louis groaned as he recognized the voice. He turned to see Danielle running up to him, wearing a clingy silver dress which brought out the color of her eyes. 

"You made it!" 

She was beaming. Louis didn't give her even a half-smile back. Harry couldn't be lying to him. Eleanor had said so herself. Besides, he _really_ did believe Harry. His Harry. 

A song started up and Danielle swayed her hips gently to the beat.

"Wanna dance?" she asked. Louis opened his mouth to say no, but his breath caught in his throat when he saw Harry enter the room, followed by Niall, Lewis, Zayn and Liam. He smiled and was about to walk over but stopped when he saw a tall, slender woman man walk up to Harry and start talking to him. Louis noticed that Harry looked very surprised to see this woman and wasn't very keen on holding out a conversation. Louis still wanted to walk up to him but something in the back of his mind told him that that was a dangerous thing to do. He wasn't sure why but he decided to trust his instinct. 

Danielle was pouting next to him. Louis saw her bright green eyes drift over to Harry and suddenly go cold. She shook her head and turned back to Louis, smiling. 

"Come on," she grabbed him by the hand and led him to the dance floor. The song playing over the speakers, to Louis's horror, was a slow song. Danielle placed Louis's hand on her waist and placed her hand on his shoulder. Louis pulled away. 

"Uh, I can't dance," Louis excused. Danielle pouted again. 

"Aw, Louis, it's easy. I'll teach you," Danielle placed Louis's hands back on her waist and Louis realized now that he had no excuse. 

\--

Harry nodded softly as he listened to his boss, Miss Swift, drone on about the formal ball. It was really quite unpleasant shock for Harry to see his boss here. It was also very dangerous for Louis as well. If Miss Swift saw him here, he knew his Louis would be shot and killed on the spot! 

Luckily, Miss Swift did not see Louis. 

As Harry half-listened to what his boss was saying, his eyes fell back upon Louis, and he instantly felt a burning heat rise to his face. 

"Danielle," he muttered under his breath. She was making Louis dance with her! Harry felt anger flow through his veins but tried hard not to let it show. He wasn't sure if it worked or not.

Harry scanned the room, avoiding Louis and Danielle completely. His eyes stopped on a tall, grey haired man. He frowned as the man began to make his way towards Louis on the dance floor. 

Louis looked somewhat relieved to have an excuse to get away from Danielle but also very disgruntled as he talked with the man. Harry shrugged and turned to his friends.

"Let's go see if there's anything we can occupy ourselves with." 

\--

Mr. Cowell smiled at Louis, a little too sweetly. Louis wondered what in the world had gone right in Mr. Cowell's day to make him smile like that.

"Well, I'm sorry to have interrupted your dance. I'll let you get back to it," and with that, Mr. Cowell walked away and Danielle pulled Louis back to her. She had him dance with her again, but Louis began to zone out... his vision becoming foggy.

Suddenly, everyone in the room seemed to disappear. He could still feel Danielle, so he knew that wasn't the case. Louis caught sight of the familiar, white robe and saw Eleanor appear before him. One more minute and he realized that he was dancing with her instead of Danielle.

"Louis, have you figured anything out yet?" she asked him.

"No, not yet... I'm still not sure if Danielle's really the one who did it or not." Eleanor smiled and Louis wondered why now even she was in a good mood.

"I know," she said, a smile still on her face. "The weapon that the person used to kill me is a lot closer than you think," she said. "But things aren't as black and white as you may think. Keep that in mind." She let go of Louis's hand, and pulled back her robes. What Louis saw made him want to throw up.

He had thought that Eleanor looked flawless but he was wrong. Across her neck, there was a sharp slash, still gushing great amounts of blood. Her white robes were stained crimson and her eyes were bloodshot. Louis wondered why he hadn't seen this before.

"The weapon," Eleanor said in a raspy voice. "Was a silver dagger with a large cursive 'S' at the base."

Louis closed his eyes. He didn't want to see Eleanor like this! Not now, not ever. He was surprised when he opened his eyes again. He saw the ballroom still with the same people and he was still dancing with Danielle. Nothing had changed.

"Louis?" Danielle asked in a sickly sweet voice. "You looked upset."

_'S. S like Styles?' _Louis thought to himself as he glanced at Harry on the other side of the ballroom. Harry was in on it?

Louis let go of Danielle's waist. But what did Eleanor mean by '_The weapon is closer than you think'_? Had she meant that Harry was, even now, carrying the same murder weapon with him? His head was spinning. 

Louis didn't have to wait long to get an answer. A glint of light upon metal caught his eyes and he followed it, realizing that the source of the glint was hanging on Danielle's hip. He examined it closer and gasped when he recognized it to be a silver dagger. A silver dagger with a large, cursive 'S' at the base...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a slightly shorter chapter, this one.. hope you enjoy nonetheless

“It was you,” Louis said softly, almost to himself. Danielle frowned.

“Sorry?” she said, leaning closer to hear what Louis had said.

‘_That’s it! She’s the one who killed Eleanor!’_ Louis thought frantically. He shoved Danielle roughly away from him. She had a confused and somewhat angered look on her face. ‘_But why did the dagger have an S engraved to it?’_ Nothing made sense. ‘_Maybe the S didn’t mean anything_.’

“It was you!” Louis shouted. “You killed her!” Danielle’s eyes widened in shock, but she quickly put on a concerned face.

“Louis… Something is definitely wrong with you. You’re not acting like yourself,” Danielle made a move towards Louis, but Louis immediately dove for the dagger at her hip. He held it up in front of her.

“You killed Eleanor with this!” Louis shouted, raging triumph flowing through his veins. “You slit her throat!”

“No. I. Didn’t,” she growled and lunged at Louis. He thought she was aiming to hurt him but instead, she snatched the dagger from his hands and walked off towards Mr. Cowell. Louis watched as she whispered something in his ear but didn’t pay much interest in that. He was more concerned to see where Harry had gotten to. He had no reason to doubt Harry anymore now that he knew for sure that Danielle had been the one to kill Eleanor, and he just wanted to make sure Harry was safe.

Louis’s eyes scanned the crowd until he saw Harry talking with Niall and slowly heading towards the staircase that lead to the rooftop. Suddenly, a loud voice flew out above the crowd.

“Now!” it screamed. Louis was confused but when he turned to look again at Harry, he saw the tall woman holding Harry in a headlock and pointing a gun at his head.

“Harry!” Louis shouted. Where had Niall, Liam, Zayn and Louis disappeared when they would’ve been needed? Louis cursed and darted as fast as he could towards Harry but gasped as a pair of strong arms grabbed him and slammed him back against the ground. Louis struggled to return his vision to normal and groaned when he saw Mr. Cowell standing over him, a triumphant grin on his face.

\--

Harry felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as his boss, Miss Swift, pointed a gun straight at his temple. One wrong move would get him shot!

He heard Louis cry out his name and he was filled with a sense of hope. That was until the tall, silver haired man Harry had seen earlier pulled his shoulders back, slamming him against the cold, hard ground. Harry closed his eyes tightly, tears streaming from the corners, and attempted to speak.

“Wh- Why are you-,” Miss Swift silenced Harry by pressing the gun to his head firmly.

“One more word out of you and I’ll blow your fucking head off,” Miss Swift screamed in Harry’s face. Harry was about to make another attempt to speak but Miss Swift slapped him across the face. Harry bit his lip to keep himself from crying out, the copper taste of blood greeting his tongue.

His thoughts went to Zayn, Liam, Niall and Lewis. Had they been hurt in any way? Where were they, anyway? Harry knew that he would die if they had been killed here… that is assuming even he got out alive.

‘_I had a feeling something terrible was about to happen…’_ Harry realized. He remembered how he had wanted nothing more than to turn and just go home, and now he suddenly had a feeling he knew why.

“Take them outside!” a loud voice shouted, and Harry felt himself being dragged away. He still couldn’t tell where since he refused to open his tightly closed eyes.

“Do you have the other one?” Miss Swift said. Harry heard an unpleasant laugh that he knew could only belong to one person.

“I’ve got him now,” Danielle said, voice ringing like silver bells and making Harry shiver. Harry decided to take a chance and open his eyes. He realized that he was being dragged out of the ballroom and into a hallway, away from the shocked, wide-eyed people. He turned his head slightly and saw Louis, with Danielle, walking backwards and pulling on his arm, pushing a silver dagger at his throat in case he decided to try something funny; like to escape. They were followed by the tall man Harry assumed was Mr. Cowell, Louis’s boss.

Harry was shoved roughly into a chair. He wondered if he would somehow be able to sneak away, until he felt leather straps wrap around his wrists and ankles, binding him to the chair. He looked next to him and saw that Louis had been given the same treatment. Harry felt his heart skip a beat as sad, blue sapphires gazed over into his own emeralds. They held eye-contact for a few more seconds, just staring at each other, looking miserable, until Louis wet his lips and opened his mouth to talk.

“Haz… I’m so-so sorry,” he choked. He looked as if he was about to say something more when Danielle slapped him hard across the face.

“Cowell, Swift, please, make yourself feel at home. I would like you to witness my revenge,” Danielle snarled, never letting her eyes leave Harry’s. Harry felt a cold shiver run down his spine and shoot out through his chest. He turned away from Danielle’s gaze, certain that her eyes would have the power to freeze his heart if he didn’t look away soon.

Mr. Cowell and Miss Swift took their seats at the back of the room, listening to the last of people running to find their escape after finally noticing the incident. Danielle began to stalk towards Harry, her dagger in her hands. She smiled triumphantly as she reached him.

“Harry, do you remember a certain family you went to, how would you say it, _expose of_?” she asked, voice sounding as if they were discussing this topic over tea and crumpets. Just as Harry was about to speak, Louis spoke up instead.

“Danielle, please. Let Harry go. Do whatever you want with me, but _please_ let him go,” he pleaded.

“Louis, shut up,” Harry hissed. He didn’t want to get Louis involved in whatever Danielle was plotting. Danielle laughed.

“How precious,” she laughed. “Trying to protect your lover. But why would I let him go when _he’s_ the one I want to see dead?” she asked, voice high-pitched and mocking. Louis growled in frustration but fought to keep his voice calm.

“Please, don’t hurt him…” Louis pleaded again. Harry felt his heart swell. Louis really didn’t strike him as the type of person who would resort to begging and pleading, and for him to plead for Harry’s safety was just so heartwarming.

Danielle laughed again. “I won’t hurt him. At least not yet. Not until he hears what I have to say,” she said, turned and began casually pacing the room, Miss Swift and Mr. Cowell watching things unfold, amused.

“Harry. Do you remember a very long time ago? Your first murder victims?” she asked.

Harry thought for a moment and then realized that hat was the family he had been thinking of the other night. The ones who had a teenaged daughter who Harry had learned was away the evening he murdered them. Harry closed his eyes. He remembered how much he had wanted to just turn around and run away, but he hadn’t been able to. He had had to stay with his sister. To this day he still felt guilt for murdering that family.

Danielle continued talking. “That family had a daughter who is still alive today,” she said, eyes gleaming. “Have you ever met that girl?” she asked. Harry shook his head. He had no idea what Danielle was getting at. He gasped as he felt her icy hand slide gently across his face, bringing his head up so that he was looking at her straight in the eye.

“Wrong,” she stated coldly. “Harry, sweetheart. That girl is me.”

She slapped Harry so hard that his chair fell over, Harry still bound tightly to it. He let out a cry of pan as his head hit the floor, his vision becoming blurry. “Miss Swift made me do it!” he protested with his last strength. He heard Louis scream his name one last time before he felt himself slowly slipping out of consciousness…

\--

Louis cried out Harry’s name as his head hit the floor. Harry had been knocked unconscious. Danielle turned her attention on Louis and smiled coldly.

“Oops,” was all she said before turning and walking towards Louis. Louis wished he was free from the leather binds that held him down. He wanted so badly to cause Danielle any kind of physical harm.

Danielle stopped next to him and began to caress his cheek. “Oh, Lou,” she cooed. “Poor, poor Lou. You just happened to be right in the middle of Harry and I.” Louis turned his head away from her. Danielle immediately turned it back so that she was staring into his eyes.

“I truly apologize for bringing you into this… But I had no choice,” she said. Louis wasn’t sure if her apology was sincere or not, but he didn’t really have much time to think about it. “I had to get Harry somehow. And I knew you were another murderer and would probably more than gladly kill him if he harmed a loved one of yours. So, he had the task of murdering Eleanor Calder that night, and he did.”

“Y-You killed Eleanor! H-Harry didn’t want to kill anyone to b-begin with! You- You heard him! Miss Swift made him do it!” Louis whined; eyes blown. He knew Danielle had killed Eleanor because of the dagger she held! It made his blood boil.

“I-It wasn’t me,” Miss Swift stuttered, looking slightly scared when a pair of masked hands grabbed her and held her up. “Mr. Twist made me do it!” Mr. Cowell went to pull her back but soon found himself in the grasp of two strong men, wearing masks and dressed in black.

“What is happening?” Mr. Cowell screamed, his face growing red before he suddenly went pale, a realization washing over his face same time as Miss Swift seemed to come to the same conclusion.

“A-are you Mr. Twist?” she asked Danielle with widened eyes, fear painted all over her body.

Danielle laughed. “No.”

Another voice spoke behind her.

“I am.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter.
> 
> Short but... rather interesting, I'd like to think. Hope you enjoy!

_Harry closed his eyes tight as he pulled the trigger, a loud explosion echoing throughout the entire house. When he opened his eyes, the man was dead. He shivered, disgusted with himself, then turned his attention upon the woman who was crouched cowering in the corner. She had her face hidden in her hands and she was praying softly to herself. Harry felt his heart break a little more but moved forward anyways. He had been given orders… and if they weren’t carried out, then his sister would be dead by morning. _

_“I’m… I’m so sorry,” Harry whispered, raising the gun in his shaking hands. The woman looked up; fear etched into her green eyes. Harry studied her eyes for a moment. He knew that he would never forget the way those eyes looked… and pleaded with him. _

_The woman’s bottom lip trembled, and she turned her face away from him, a sheet of tangled brown hair covering her eyes. Harry shivered again as he stood straight and pulled the trigger._

\--

“Cut the act, Styles. You don’t give a shit about the fact that you killed my mom,” there was an almost unnoticeable tremble in her voice that she had tried to hide as she stood there, hands wrapped around herself as she stood there, back turned to her parent’s murderer.

Harry looked pitifully at Louis who was staring back at him wide-eyed. Louis began to struggle against his leather bindings and to his surprise, he heard Harry chuckle, “Jeez, Dani, let him free. He’s harmless.”

Danielle went to let Louis out of his restrains but as soon as he was free, he felt a gun press against his head. Danielle chuckled, looking at Harry who was holding Louis securely in his arms so that he couldn’t escape.

“I’m sorry, _mon amour_,” he whispered and pressed a gentle kiss on Louis’s lips, never letting the gun slip.

“_You’re _Mr. Twist?” Miss Swift squealed, kicking at the person holding her, trying to get free.

“That’s right. Harry here is the ultimate boss of both you. Of everyone who ever worked for you. Of you, Louis,” Danielle mocked, taking Harry’s free hand into her own and pressing a kiss on it. Harry laughed as she took her dagger out, striking it hard on the wooden table in the middle of the room, the letter ‘_S’_ on the handle mocking at how stupid Louis had been.

Louis’s eyes were full of hurt and betrayal as he stared at Harry, motionless. Harry did want him dead. This was all Harry’s sick game and there were no other winners than Harry. And Danielle, apparently, since they seemed to have been on the same team all this time. He felt sick to his stomach.

“H-How… I- How could you- Y-Yo-Y-You were so-s-so good at-,” Louis was cut mid-sentence by Harry’s chilling laugh.

“To play the part…,” Harry grinned, “You need to become the part.” He started dragging Louis, who desperately tried to kick his way free, outside the room, Danielle trailing after them. Abruptly, Harry came to a halt in the doorway.

“Oh. One more thing. Li!” He yelled and in a split-second Liam appeared in the room, pulling Danielle back and holding her at his grasp.

“H-Harry, what?” she gasped shocked, hurt emotion on her face matching the one on Louis’s. “Harry, what is this? I-I love you, baby,” she wailed, tears prickling her eyes. “Please,” she was pleading Harry with her eyes. A wicked smile spread on Harry’s face.

“Honey, what in the _world_ would I ever do with a useless girl like you? Your dad was just a pawn. A pawn in my games. And so are you.” He locked his eyes with Danielle for a moment, his eyes showing no emotion at all, and then took a look at every person in the room, one by one. “Just like every single one of you,” he snarled, pointing at each of them with his gun before pressing it back against Louis’s temple. He ignored Danielle’s protests about ‘_True Love’ _and _‘Soulmates’_ and whatever else she came up with. Pathetic.

“Get rid of those two. We won’t be needing them anymore,” Harry nodded towards Mr. Cowell and Miss Swift. They were still being held by Niall, Zayn and Lewis who nodded, staying behind to do exactly what Harry had asked, when Harry dragged Louis towards the staircase leading up to the rooftop with Liam carrying an upset, reluctant Danielle.

Harry stopped in front of a helicopter and waited for Liam to push Danielle inside it and make sure she wouldn’t escape. Not too long after, Niall, Lewis and Zayn appeared on the rooftop as well, a matching cold look in their eyes. Louis wanted to scream. How could these people be _so fucking evil_? What were they going to do with him and Danielle? Fly up high and then drop him and Danielle down one by one as if they were some kind of trash bags? Harry cut his thoughts off.

“Now, darling,” he started and finally lowered his gun, stealing one last kiss from Louis’s lips with dark madness in his eyes. “You and I are going to New York.”


End file.
